Tendulkar visits his adopted village Donja in Marathwada

Cricket icon and Rajya Sabha member Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday visited Donja village in Osmanabad district of Marathwada, Maharashtra.

Tendulkar has adopted the village under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).

He has committed Rs Four crore from his MP Local Area Development scheme funds for the infrastructure development in the village, a release issued by his spokesperson said.

"I am overwhelmed by your enthusiasm and spirit and hope that all of us can work together towards development of the village. The initial challenges in implementing the development work have been successfully overcome and I am sure that the execution of the work will pick up speed. We want to showcase the development in Donja as a case study for other villages across the country," it quoted Tendulkar as saying.

Donja is the second village adopted by Tendulkar under the SAGY after Puttumraju Kandriga in Andhra Pradesh.

Under the SAGY, a water tank will be constructed and pipelines will be laid for providing potable water to houses in Donja, the release said.

A new school building will also be built along with sewage system and concrete roads. Tendering process for most of the projects has been completed and work orders issued, the release added.

Spreading Happiness InDiya Foundation, an organisation associated with Tendulkar, has also undertaken to provide solar energy based lighting solutions to the school and other public amenities.

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Donja, with a population of over 2,800, was recognised as an ODF (open defecation free) village shortly after Tendulkar adopted it in November 2016.

During his visit, Tendulkar met Osmanabad Collector R V Game. He also played cricket with children from the local school and interacted with them.