Delegation under the leadership of Priti Patel the Secretary of State for International Development of United Kingdom met Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at his residence today. British High Commissioner Dominic Asquith was also part of the delegation. Chief Secretary Antony DeSa was present on the occasion.
While giving warm welcome to the delegation, Chouhan said the delegation has arrived in a time when Rakshabandhan is celebrated to strengthen ties between brothers and sisters. He expressed gratitude for becoming partner country in Global Investors Summit, 2016, Rs580 crore grant to Madhya Pradesh Infrastructure Fund and for the works related to first and second phase of infrastructure development in the slums of municipalities areas. He also thanked the delegation for their technical guidance in the area of information and technology. Chouhan said he will visit the UK soon and will see the works undertaken in the area of smart city and skill development. He added that Madhya Pradesh is the best in all the fields where electricity and revenue are in abundance. Madhya Pradesh is the leading state in implementation of the Prime Minister’s schemes like Swachch Bharat Abhiyan, Stand Up India, Skill India, Digital India and Make In India besides making concerted efforts to achieve the target for double the farmers’ income in five years. Moreover, the cherished dream of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpai, the former Prime Ministers of India to link the rivers has been realized by Madhya Pradesh by linking Narmada- Shipra rivers. Work related to link Ken-Betwa river is in progress, he added.
Chouhan said that there are vast scope of investment in the field of defense, food processing, renewable energy, tourism, animal husbandry and other sectors. Facilities as being provided to the mega projects is being provided to the investors investing over Rs10 crore in the field of food processing. Investors can get tax rebate of around 200 per cent.
He said the State is among the fastest developing in the country. State has registered its name in the first three states of the country leaving Gujarat state behind in the field of milk production. Krishi Karman award was awarded to the State for last consecutive four years. These awards are given to the state for achieving 20 per cent agriculture growth rate. Also growth rate is registered in double digit during the last seven years.
Further, Chouhan said that efforts for economic development, social progress and prosperity were undertaken since the formation of his government. ladli laxmi yojna was implemented in the state from January 2006 for the empowerment of women and to change the mindset of the people about the girl child. Also arrangements have been made to give 50 per cent reservation for women in government teaching services and 33 per cent reservation in other government services leaving forest services. He said that against the 50 per cent reservation 54 percent women elected in urban bodies elections. All the neccssary facilities are being provided in the education sector. Women self help groups are leading in many areas and the turnover of a poultry farm run by the self help group near Bhopal is more than Rs30 crore. Improvement has been witnessed in the area of sex ratio in the state due to the efforts of the state government. There has been an increase in the numbers of girl child among six years of age.