Chennai, Dec 31 (Reporter) Union Minister for Rural Development, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan reviewed the rural development works being carried out by the Central Government in Tamil Nadu in Chennai on Tuesday. He said Tamil Nadu is a very ancient and great state of the country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resolve is the overall development of Tamil Nadu. "Hence from the point of view of rural development also, the Central Government has given assistance to Tamil Nadu in every scheme", he said, according to a PIB release. Mr Shivraj Singh Chouhan informed during the review meeting that under the MGNREGA scheme in Tamil Nadu, the Centre has given wages worth Rs. 12,603 crores to the laborers in the year 2023-24. "This year also, Rs 7,220 crore have been released so far, so that no worker remains unemployed here and everyone has work", he said. Pointing out that the Union Government have given 10,352 roads and 214 bridges of 26,578 kms to Tamil Nadu under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, the Minister said of these, 9,681 roads along with 150 bridges have been built. Work is going on on 671 roads and it was is expected to be completed on time, he added. Mr Shivraj Singh said under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the Centre's target is to build 8,15,771 houses in Tamil Nadu of which 7,47,542 houses have been approved so far and the first installment of Rs 7,33,359 has also been released, out of which 6, 31, 512 houses have been completed. "We have asked the Tamil Nadu government to complete the work of the remaining houses soon", the Minister said. He said this year too the Centre has proposed to give 1,42,059 houses to Tamil Nadu for the poor and the first instalement will be released by March in this financial year. Mr Shivraj Singh said apart from the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, there was another ambitious scheme, the Women Empowerment Scheme, through which the Centre was providing livelihood to poor sisters by forming Self-Help Groups through the Livelihood Mission. Noting that the Prime Minister has given two targets to the country, he said One, two crore houses are to be built for the poor in rural areas and second, three crore Lakhpati Didis are to be created. Mr Chouhan expressed happiness that Lakhpati Didi program is also running in Tamil Nadu and about 10 lakh didis have become lakhpatis, Lakhpati Didi means a sister should earn more than Rs one lakh rupees in a year. The Union Minister assured the Tamil Nadu Government that under the leadership of Mr Modi, the Centre will provide all possible support to Tamil Nadu under the schemes and the expectation was that the State Government should also complete all these schemes at a fast pace and serve its people better...////...