S. Uppalapadu- The Smart Village

Saalevari Uppalapadu is a village panchayat located close to the Jammalamadugu town in the Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh. The village houses a population of 2436 people and was declared to be the first Smart Village in the state of Andhra Pradesh in January 2019.

Mr. Manohar Reddy, CEO, Feuji Inc., took up a comprehensive development charter for the village and started the Smart Village Scheme in the year 2014. A team of 10 passionate and affluent youngsters formed the Village Development Committee in 2015, to achieve the development vision. Mr. Manohar adopted S. Uppalapadu in the same year, under the Smart Village Program, and invested time and effort in several developmental initiatives like the Reyalaseema Skill Development Center, adoption of government schools, and setting up healthcare and communication facilities in the village, to name a few.

A seed fund of $1 million was created and Government Schemes were utilized to match these funds. The villagers also were encouraged by the development initiatives and together contributed 50 lakhs rupees towards the village development. By January 2019, all 20 non-negotiable indicators mentioned in the Smart Village charter were achieved and S. Uppalapadu was declared to be the first Smart Village in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

The Smart Uppalapadu Village is now known for clean roads, tiled classrooms, state-of-the-art Skill Development Center, attractive Anganwadi centers, smart Gram Panchayat buildings, Mee Seva centers, uninterrupted power, and water supply, educated and employable youth, and happy children.

As part of the Smart Village Program, a Mandal Parishad Primary (MPP) school was adopted. The MPR Society improved the infrastructure facilities of the school by bringing in digital learning, clean classrooms, new benches, school uniforms, and qualified teachers.