Aamir, the "10k SIP" are pull-ups. They do not connect the UDN2981 and the micro but add additional components to these connection lines. They pull-up the voltage on these lines to Vcc level, when the micro doesn't emit a defined potential, e.g., when the outputs are put into tristate mode during power-on reset. Without these pull-ups the condition at the inputs of drivers would be undefined and bad effects like oscillation and/or rise of supply current could occur.

The pull-ups work like in the following example schematic:



You can see, that each line on the left is connected to Vcc via a 4k7 pull-up. Of course, you can take discrete resistors for this, but a 10k SIP is much more efficient.

Kai