Indian Govt. funded Gandhi Nagar Model Village inaugurated

Second model village in Batticaloa

India had undertaken more than 70 people-oriented development projects in various fields

Gandhi Nagar Model Village, the second model village of the 100 model villages being built with Indian Assistance, was inaugurated and the completed houses were handed over to the beneficiaries on Saturday in Batticaloa.

Indian High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu and Minister of Housing and Construction & Cultural Affairs Sajith Premadasa jointly inaugurated the village and handed over the houses.

The Indian High Commission said the Indian Government had joined the Ministry of Housing and Construction & Cultural Affairs to build 100 model villages consisting of a total of 2, 400 houses all across Sri Lanka under Indian grant of funds amounting to Rs.1, 200 million.

“These 2, 400 houses are in addition to the 60, 000 houses built under the Indian Housing Project meant for war affected people in the North and East and the workers in the plantation areas,” it is said.

India had undertaken more than 70 peopleoriented development projects in various fields including health, education, housing, skill development, infrastructure, vocational training among others, all across the country.

About, 20 such projects were currently under progress including three projects in the Eastern Province namely the construction of surgical unit in the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital, Construction of an Auditorium in Swami Vipulananda Institute of Aesthetic Studies and a sanitation project in Batticaloa.

The overall development portfolio of the Government of India in Sri Lanka is nearly US$. 3 billion, out of which US$. 560 million are in grants, it is said.