Chief Minister Raman Singh on Sunday credited people of the state for his successful completion of 5,000 days in office and vowed to make Chhattisgarh an ideal State.
“I feel fortunate that people of state have given me this opportunity to lead them. I extend thanks from the bottom of my heart to our top leadership and all the party-workers, for giving the opportunity to serve people of the State,’’ Singh remarked while interacting with people in the 24th episode of his monthly radio program ‘Raman Ke Goth’, which was aired simultaneously by all the centres of Akashwani and various private television and FM channels.
In this popular radio talk, Chief Minister provided detailed information about the key achievements of his Government in past 5,000 days.
Expressing gratitude towards the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Singh said that Vajpayee turned the concept of Chhattisgarh state formation into reality. He added, “We all are making concerted efforts to make Chhattisgarh an ideal State.’
Throwing light on Government schemes and achievements since year 2003 when he took oath as Chief Minister of the State, Singh stated at the time of formation of the State, Chhattisgarh’s Budget was only Rs 7 crore which has now risen to Rs 80,000 crore.
Singh informed people through his radio talk programme, “GSDP has increased from Rs 47,000 crore to Rs 2,50,000 crore. Per capita income has increased from Rs 12,000 to Rs 82,000. Atalji led the formation of three new States in the country in 2000. At that time Chhattisgarh had 16 districts. We constituted 11 new districts to bring Government-administration services to the doorstep of the public.”
He added number of tehsils in State has increased from 98 to 150, Nagar panchayats from 49 to 112, municipal councils from 28 to 43 and municipal corporations have increased from 10-13.
Singh said the implementation of various schemes launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including Jan-Dhan Yojana, Mudra Yojana, Cleanliness Campaign, Ujjwala Yojana, is going on in full swing in Chhattisgarh.
Education sector revolutionised
Chief Minister revealed in his journey of 5,000 days in office, there has been significant increase in number of educational institutes as number of primary schools has increased from 13,000 to 38,000, middle schools from 5,000 to 16,500 and high schools from 600 to 3,715.
Dropout rate has decreased from 11 per cent to one per cent. Higher education sector has also undergone revolution. In year 2003, there was no national-level institute in State.
Number of Government universities has increased from 3 to 13, while number of Government Colleges has increased from 116 to 224 at present. Number of medical colleges has increased from 2 to 10, number of engineering colleges has increased from 12 to 50, number of agriculture colleges has increased from 4 to 21, polytechnic institutes from 10 to 51, ITI from 61 to 176, number of hostels and ashram schools for children of scheduled caste and scheduled tribe has increased from 1,837 to 3,250.
Power production rises to 22,764 MW
Chief Minister also talked about the electricity production and development of related infrastructure. He informed that electricity production in state has increased from 4,732 MW to 22,764 MW.
Number of High Tension Power Substations has increased from 28 to 96. Transmission lines have extended from 5,205 circuit km to 11,522 circuit km. State’s electricity transmission capacity has increased from 1,350 MW to 6,350 MW. Singh told listeners that in these 5,000 days, average per capita electricity consumption has increased from 350 units to 1,724 unit, which is highest in the country.
“We are providing free electricity supply of 7,500 units annually to farmers of State. Number of electric pump connections has increased from 72,000 to nearly 4 lakh. He said- power-cuts are the things of past for the State, which is another major achievement of state in last 5,000 days.
Good Network of Roads across State
Singh said-a good network of roads is being developed in state. In past 5,000 days, 60,000 kms of roads, 1200 bridges, and more than 23,000 culverts have been constructed. To expand the rail network, PPP model based strategy has been chalked out. Previously in 150 years, only 1187 kms of road network was built in state, where as our Government has begun to work towards the target of developing 1,300-km of additional rail route. Soon, many districts of state will be linked with railway facilities.
Food Security Act was game changer
In his radio programme, Chief Minister also underlined the memorable achievement of making best arrangements for paddy procurement from farmers under support price policy and making Food and Nutrition Security Act for farmers.
He said that nearly 59 lakh families are being provided rice at Rs 1 per kg. Chhattisgarh is the first state to provide its youth legal right to skill development. Farmers are being provided interest-free loans for agriculture. Wages of tendupatta collectors have been increased from Rs 350 to Rs 1,800.
Significant reform in health sector
Chief Minister said in last five years, Chhattisgarh’s health service sector has undergone significant improvement. New hospitals have been opened and new doctors have been appointed. IMR has reduced from 76 to 41 and MMR has decreased from 407 to 221.
Chhattisgarh is also the first state of the country to provide health insurance to all the families of state through smart card. Women have been provided reservation in panchayat elections and Government jobs.
Women self-help groups are being provided loans at nominal interest rate of 3 per cent for various businesses and trades. Women empowerment campaign is on, under which participation of women in various government schemes in being encouraged. Mentioning about the innovations made by government, Chief Minister said that medical college in Sarguja and Bastar and livelihood colleges in all 27 districts is the symbol of our successful model of innovation.