CHENNAI: Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister I Periyasamy informed the Assembly on Thursday that the government has constructed libraries in over 12,100 village panchayats under its flagship scheme Annaithu Grama Anna Marumalarchi Thittam.

The minister said that Chief Minister MK Stalin accords high priority to establishing libraries as a means to empower the younger generation. “So far, the department has built libraries in 12,110 village panchayats across the State, and efforts are underway to extend this initiative to the remaining panchayats,” the minister said while responding to a question raised by Sholinghur MLA S Aravind Ramesh, who asked whether the government would consider setting up libraries in all village panchayats under the St Thomas Mount Union in his constituency.