Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Tuesday said that a state level function would be organised at Shimla for the launch of third and fourth phases of the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana in the state on September 25.
The programme would be presided over by Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal, the Chief Minister said.
Thakur held virtual meetings with the MLAs and Deputy Commissioners of the state to take stock of the preparations for launch of the third and fourth phases of the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana in the state.
He said that functions would also be organised at district headquarters, sub-division, block, panchayat and fair price shop level, in which few beneficiaries would also be provided ration bags.
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to preside over this function but due to committed engagements, he would not be able to join this event.
The Chief Minister said that the MLAs would also participate in the function from one of the places in their respective Assembly constituency. However, the functions would not be organised in the blocks where model code of conduct has been enforced due to by-elections to the PRIs.
As many as 140 LED screens would be set up at prominent locations across the state to enable people to participate and see the live telecast of the State level function which would also be telecast at district, sub-division, block, panchayat and fair price shop level through virtual mode, he said.
Thakur further said the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana was a major initiative of Prime Minister Modi in the challenging Covid-19 times to provide food security to the poor, migrant labourers and unemployed. Himachal Pradesh had more than 7.18 lakh ration card holders being covered under National Food Security Act (NFSA) covering a population of above 29 lakh, who would be provided free ration bag by the end of October, he said
The Chief Minister said the main objective of organising the function is to ensure maximum participation of the beneficiaries in it so that they could be made aware about this special scheme launched by the Centre last year to give relief to the NFSA families of the state.
September 25 is also the birth anniversary of Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayay, who gave the concept of Antyodaya and it is a relevant day to carry forward his message, he said.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister also directed the DCs to take effective steps for checking spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially focusing on contact tracing so that the appropriate Covid behaviour could be followed.
Thakur also asked them to monitor the progress of the second phase of vaccination against Covid-19 so that the cent-percent target could be achieved by the end of November. Till now, 23.10 lakh people have been administered the second dose of the vaccine, he added.