Morale-booster to drought-hit farmers in Anantapur district. Anantapur district is all set for the launch of a new pilot project aimed at development of the drought-prone districts with the Planning Commission giving its ‘in principle’ approval to the “Project Ananta” on Thursday. “The Planning Commission appreciated the effort being put in to make a difference,” said Congress MP from Anantapur, Ananta Venkatrami Reddy. The Rs.7,830-crore project christened “Project Ananta” had been designed after the submission of a report by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) after extensively touring the district, taking into consideration the topography, climate and available resources, said Mr. Venkatrami Reddy. The government currently spends over Rs.1,000 crore as input subsidy, crop insurances, beside other compensatory measures, to ease the financial stress of the farmers. The report prepared by the ICAR committee headed by Director General of ICAR S Ayyappan envisages a shift in agricultural topography of the district suggesting the farmers to go for cluster bean, pulses and horticulture while also taking up dairy and allied activities in a big way for employment generation. The project would be the biggest ever aimed at tackling the problems of the district after the Desert Development Programme a decade ago. Finance Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy said in Hyderabad on Friday that the Planning Commission assured the State in the meeting in New Delhi on Thursday that it would study the project in detail and pursue with the Agriculture Ministry for its early approval so that it could be implemented over a seven-year period .