Gandhinagar, Feb 20 (IANS): Gujarat government on Tuesday announced the inclusion of 16 more villages into its Smart Village program, spanning five distinct districts.

The villages were selected based on criteria, including road connectivity, the condition of roads and gutters, street lighting, cleanliness, and a population range of 2,000 to 6,000 residents.

The newly designated Smart Villages include Raydi, Thanagalol, Virnagar, Anandpara(Nava), Satapara, and Lodhika from the Rajkot district; Chorwadi, Samadhiyala, Dhandhusar, Matiyana, and Balagam in the Junagadh district; Pipar, Vakiya, and Sidsar from Jamnagar district; Adtala in Botad district; and Mahuvar in the Navsari district.

As part of the Smart Village initiative, each village's Gram Panchayat will receive Rs 5 lakh as a self-fund to kickstart development projects. The selection process for Smart Villages involves a comprehensive evaluation of eleven key initiatives.

These include the establishment of Saras Gram Vatika or garden, compulsory door-to-door waste collection, direct access to drinking water, efficient tax collection, maintaining cleanliness, the implementation of smart e-gram facilities, installation of solar rooftops on Gram Panchayat buildings, achieving an open defecation-free status, timely payment of electricity bills by the Gram Panchayat, and the presence of proper roads and gutters.

Villages meeting these criteria submitted applications for consideration, followed by inspections from taluka-level committees. Those achieving a score of 90 percent or higher underwent further third-party verification. The highest-scoring villages across each taluka were ultimately granted the Smart Village status.