Paying glowing tributes to the Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday exhorted the people to follow the philosophy of peace and non-violence as propounded by Gandhi ji to carve out an egalitarian society.
Capt Amarinder, addressing a gathering after inaugurating a mega camp on Mahatma Gandhi Sarbat Vikas Yojana (MGSVY) at Kisan Vikas Chamber, said that Mahatma Gandhi was possibly the only global leader who won the battle of freedom through his ideology of non-violence.
Underlining MGSVY’s significance, he said that the scheme was launched in the state to ensure inclusive development by reaching out all deprived sections of the society and to ensure that the benefits of all schemes of socio-economic development reach the poorest of the poor as a befitting tribute to Gandhi ji.
He said that the Rural Development and Panchayats Department, being the nodal department, had organized mega camps in all 22 districts and 90 sub-divisions across the state. He pointed out that the underprivileged or disadvantaged people across the state would be benefitted from 18 pro-poor initiatives such as ration card, Atta-Dal, MNREGA, Aashirwad scheme, Ghar-Ghar Rozgar, debt relief, among others.
The Chief Minister said that the sole objective of launching this scheme was to ensure that only the deserving and underprivileged sections of the society get the benefits of the state government's pro-poor initiatives.
Capt Amarinder also handed over appointment letters to 31 persons under Ghar-Ghar Rozgar scheme, besides cheques of debt waiver to 23 farmers and financial grant under Ashirwad scheme to five beneficiaries.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was also signed between Invest Punjab and Mahindra Waste to Energy Solutions Limited for a project to effectively convert waste to wealth at a cost of Rs 15 crore in the presence of Chief Minister.
After extensive research in Punjab, Mahindra and Mahindra has decided to put up this pilot Bio-Methanation project and expressed its willingness to support the State Government by processing 10,000 tons of paddy or wheat straw per year.
The project is expected to go a long way in providing a permanent solution to the menace of stubble burning.
The initiative is expected to generate direct employment for 50-75 persons and support around 1000 farmers in the vicinity of the plant.
The state Financial Commissioner Rural Development and Panchayats Anurag Verma, briefing about MGSVY, said that as many as 65,000 persons would be enrolled for seeking benefits under various pro-poor schemes in such mega camps being organized on October 2 in different parts of the state. So far, 6.33 lakh beneficiaries had been benefitted under the scheme from June to August 2018.