Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today launched a slew of projects including group houses, office buildings for village panchayats and bridges across the state, constructed at a cost of Rs 172.91 crore.

The projects, including 10,449 group houses, 31 panchayat union buildings, 55 village panchayat offices, 150 public distribution shops, kitchen and school buildings and nine bridges were launched by the Chief Minister through video conferencing from the Secretariat, an official release said.

The initiative comes in the backdrop of government's efforts to ensure efficient functioning of village and town panchayats in new buildings for panchayat offices, which were hitherto operating from old buildings.

Minister for Municipal Administration K P Munusamy, Transport Minister V Senthil Balaji and Chief Secretary Sheela Balakrishnan were among those present during the function

Another release said Jayalalithaa also inaugurated 27 hostels constructed at a cost of Rs 12.95 crore, benefitting 1,350 students of Backward and Most Backward Communities.

The hostels have been constructed in Thanjavur, Tirunelveli, Cuddalore, Virudhunagar, Villupuram, Dharmapuri, Nagapattinam and Kancheepuram districts with features like solar owered geysers and refrigerator facilities, it said.

Social Welfare Minister B Valarmathi and senior government officials were present on the occasion, the release added.