Chittor, April 02: The three-day centenary celebrations of Chittoor district came to an end at the Masonic grounds here on Friday. Unlike on the first day when the crowd was wafer-thin, local people took part in the closing ceremony in large numbers.
To mark the memorable event, Chief Minister N. Kirankumar Reddy laid the foundation stone for the clock tower to be developed as a centenary monument at a cost of Rs.35 lakh. He also laid a stone for the massive Rs.778.5-lakh project to build 88 veterinary dispensaries with NABARD assistance. He took the occasion to inaugurate a DWMA-CLRC building at Molakalacheruvu estimated to cost Rs.81.5 crore and II Town police station building (Rs.28 lakh).
Hailing the former public representatives as ‘the great sons of the soil’ whose support was pivotal in the development of the district, Mr. Reddy felicitated former Speaker Agarala Eswara Reddy, former Deputy Speaker G.Kuthuhalamma, members of Parliament Chinta Mohan (Tirupati) and N.Sivaprasad (Chittoor), Minister G. Arunakumari, former Ministers R.Chenga Reddy and Patnam Subbaiah, former Chairpersons of the Zilla Parishat N.P.Chengalraya Naidu, V. Siddarami Reddy and G.V. Srinatha Reddy.
Later, the Chief Minister honoured the Members of Legislative Council K. Jayachandra Naidu, V. Balasubramanyam, Y. Srinivasulu Reddy, R. Reddeppa Reddy, R. Gopinathan and D. Rami Reddy and Legislative Assembly members Shahjahan Basha and P. Ravi.
In the non-political category, former Collector S.S. Rawat and retired bureaucrat A. Chengappa, freedom fighter T.C.Rajan, litterateur Medasani Mohan and industrial Ramachandra N. Galla were honoured. Kiran also honoured the district In-Charge Minister N. Raghuveera Reddy, who in turn honoured the Chief Minister along with other legislators and leaders.
-Agencies