Cricket legend and Rajya Sabha MP Sachin Tendulkar has decided to adopt Donja village in drought-prone Osmanabad district for its development under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAANJHI). Donja village comes under Paranda tehsil that is considered as a rain-fed area of the Osmanabad district, which has been affected by drought and severe water crisis this year. The district is also saw a number of farmer suicides.

•  Anand Rayate, chief executive officer of Osmanabad Zilla Parishad, said authorities were now preparing a blueprint for development works. “Our blueprint will be ready by August 30 which will be sent to the collector, and based on that development works in the villages will be initiated,”

• SAANJHI, launched in October 2014, is a unique and transformative scheme having a holistic approach towards development. It envisages integrated development of the selected village across multiple areas such as agriculture, health, education, sanitation, environment, livelihoods.

• Donja is a village in Paranda of Osmanabad. As per 2011 census 582 families residing there. It has a population of 2,863 of which 1,508 are males while 1,355 are females.

• In the village, population in the age group of 0-6 years is 319 which makes up 11.14 per cent of the total population. The average sex ratio of the village is 899, which is lower than Maharashtra’s average of 929, while the Child Sex Ratio as per 2011 census is 910, higher than the state average of 894.

• The literacy rate of Donja in 2011 was 72.17 per cent, lower than 82.34 per cent of Maharashtra. Male literacy rate stands at 78.75 per cent, while female literacy rate was 64.84 per cent.