Ranchi, Aug. 20: The state government is planning to develop 100-odd hamlets across Jharkhand as "smart" villages by improving health, education and livelihood opportunities there through an integrated approach and big-scale use of technology.

To start threadbare discussions on ways to change the faces of villages, the state rural development department, in association with State Institute of Rural Development and Institute for Human Development, is organising a two-day national convention on smart village-2015 that will kick off tomorrow in Ranchi.

Chief minister Raghubar Das and rural development minister Neelkanth Singh Munda will inaugurate the convention.

"There is an urgent need to bridge the urban and rural gap. The national convention will deliberate on how life in our villages can be transformed and find out ways to do develop the rural areas effectively," principal secretary (rural development) N.N. Sinha said.

TRAI chairman R.S. Sharma, executive director of Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council professor Prabhat Ranjan, among others, were present.

Sinha added that the convention aimed at sharing experience and formulating a comprehensive scheme for development of villages.

Elaborating on the convention, he added there would be six technical sessions, including good governance, energy, technology and climate change, better public health, education and skill development.

Sinha said that migration of people from hinterlands to urban areas had been a major problems. "There are several factors involved. We need to address all socio-economic issues, which lead to migration," he asserted.