New Delhi: The Delhi government is planning to open four technical education institutes in rural areas of the capital, an official said on Thursday.

"With Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit of the view that rural areas need to be given special care, more teaching institutes can be opened at these places," the official said.

The chief minister, while replying to a question in the Delhi assembly on Wednesday, said that now the focus of the government will shift to development of the rural areas.

The places identified for the opening up of the institutes are Mangolpuri, Chhatarpur, Bawana and Ranhola. The Public Works Department has already made a primary assessment in these areas.

The Delhi government's Directorate of Training and Technical Education will open these institutes.

At present, there are 12 institutes imparting higher education in rural areas and all of them are privately-run.

On the other hand, these areas have 21 institutes imparting technical education, which include two government colleges and two industrial training institutes. IANS