Chief Minister Hemant Soren today said that as soon as the state government was formed global pandemic Covid-19 hit the country and the world. Due to the global pandemic, there was a long lockdown in the country. Jharkhand is counted among the backward states of the country, hence a disaster like Covid-19 was like a curse for the State. He said that even during the global pandemic, our government did a better job in Jharkhand than other states and faced the pandemic boldly while providing security to everyone including the poor, labourers and farmers. Two ministers of our cabinet were also martyred due to the global pandemic. As soon as the clouds of the global pandemic cleared, our government tried to give a new direction to the state as per the promises. The CM was addressing a press conference organized at the Chief Minister's residential complex on Kanke Road, Ranchi on Thursday.
The CM said that the present government is the government of the entire Jharkhand. Right from the initial days, our government has worked for the advancement of every section and every society of the state. “Aapki Yojana-Aapki Sarkar-Aapke Dwar” has been an important and effective campaign of the state government. Under this campaign we have reached the last person standing in the way of development. The last stop of the third phase of this campaign is on 29 December 2023. He said that due to Jharkhand being the most backward state of the country, there have been many disparities here including at the economic and educational level. Our government has made a strong effort to work on these disparities through the “Aapki Yojana-Aapki Sarkar-Aapke Dwar” campaign.
Soren said that our government has tried to sensitize the state employees. To fulfill the objective with which we formed the government, this government has till now worked at least in step with the people of the villages and with the sentiments of the people of the state. The CM said that the challenges are not over yet, we have to face many more challenges in future but we are fully prepared to deal with these challenges. He said that the all-round development of any state happens through mutual coordination between the Central Government and the State Government, but I believe that the cooperation that we should have received from the Central Government has not been as per expectation. Despite getting less support from the central government, the government did not stop its steps but kept moving forward.
The CM said that our government has made continuous efforts to connect all sections of Jharkhand including farmers, labourers, youth, women and unemployed people with various future schemes of the government and will continue to do so in future also. He said that 80 per cent of the population in Jharkhand lives in rural areas. I believe that all-round development of the state is possible only when we strengthen the villages, when the villages are strong then only the city and the state will be strong. The CM said that it is our resolve that by strengthening the village economy of Jharkhand, we will definitely succeed in removing the tag of backwardness from the state.
The CM said that in the year 20-25, Jharkhand will be counted among the young states. In the last 20 years, the previous government could not live up to the expectations that the state had from the previous governments that is why today Jharkhand is facing the brunt of backwardness. He said that in the last 20 years no such work has been done in Jharkhand on which we can rely today to fight every challenge, but slowly but surely our government is working on strengthening the roots of Jharkhand. In the coming few years, we are moving forward with the aim of making this state stand on its own strength.
The CM said that we have worked to fulfill the old demands of many categories of employees, police personnel, teachers, Anganwadi workers and contract workers working as important parts of the state government. The CM said that not only in the state but in the entire country, government employees have protested on the streets demanding restoration of old pension. Jharkhand is the first state in the country where the old pension scheme has been implemented. Our government has done the work of implementing the Sarvajan Pension Scheme in Jharkhand. Jharkhand is the first state in the entire country to implement Sarvajan Pension Scheme. At present, the work of connecting all the elderly men and women above 60 years of age, widows and disabled people with social security has been done in our state. Our government has emphasized on increasing the scope of social security by taking it as priority.
Soren said that our government is working to empower the coming generation. The state government has increased the scholarship amount for students studying in government schools of Jharkhand, while girls have been linked to the Savitribai Phule Samriddhi Yojana. Under this scheme, all eligible girls are being provided financial support so that their studies do not get interrupted. The Chief Minister said that students who want to study abroad for higher education are also being given 100 percent scholarship under the Marang Gomke Overseas Scholarship Scheme. Loan waiver of farmers in the state, Chief Minister Employment Generation Scheme, appointment to various posts in government undertakings, appointment in each department.
A lot of work has been done in many different areas including making rules, running excellent schools, better industry policy etc. Jharkhand is the first state in the country where hydrogen engines will be manufactured and an MoU has been signed with Tata Cummins. Action plans to set up industries are in the pipeline by many industrial institutes. The CM said that to relieve the residents of Ranchi city from the problem of traffic jams, a network of flyovers is being laid in Ranchi city. The flyover construction work is going on at a fast pace and will be ready soon.
