Sachin Tendulkar gets grand reception as he adopts village in Nellore

He’s already participated in the Prime Minister’s Swacch Bharat campaign, and cricketer turned Rajya Sabha MP Sachin Tendulkar today formally adopted a village in Andhra Pradesh to develop into a ‘smart village’.

Tendulkar officially adopted the Puttamraju Kandrika village in Nellore district under the Prime Minister’s Sansaad Adarsh Gram Yojana today and will be allocating around Rs 2.79 crore from his MP Local Area Development Scheme fund for the development of the hamlet.

The former cricketer received a grand reception at the village with many lining the streets to see him.

There are multiple theories on Tendulkar’s choice of the village. While one says that Tendulkar reportedly chose the village on the advice of his aide and former cricket administrator V Chamundeswarinath, another says that the joint collector of the district prevailed upon Tendulkar during a flight from the US to India to adopt the village.

Tendulkar arrived in Krishnapatnam port on Saturday from where he travelled to Puttamraju Kandrika to attend various functions today.

The cricketing legend has reportedly already spoken to district officials about the various schemes that can used to develop the village and has already given his consent for some of them.

Among the projects to be carried out using Tendulkar’s funds include developing roads, power and water suppy and other community projects like ensuring the presence of a toilet in every house.

And in keeping with the Prime Minister’s desire to increase internet connectivity across the country, funds may also be allocated for providing wi-fi connectivity to the village residents.