Addressing a massive public meeting on the second day of his Statewide Vikas Yatra at Konta, Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh said: “The large turnout of people in the ongoing Vikas Yatra is proof that our Government is working honestly and open-heartedly towards the welfare of the public.” Konta is the block headquarters of the southernmost district of Chhattisgarh, Sukma, bordering Andhra and Odisha. He said that taking the benefits of development schemes to the last person/family of the remotest village of the State and joining them with the mainstream development journey was the top most priority of his Government.
On the occasion, he also dedicated/ inaugurated development projects worth around Rs102 crore, giving fresh dimension to development in this new district.
While the CM dedicated and performed bhumi pujan of 43 projects worth Rs95 crore 20 lakh, he also started the distribution of new ration cards to 9,000 families of this district under the Chhattisgarh Food Security Act and distribution of Rs12.09 crore bonus to 59,760 primary members of 26 primary Forest Produce Cooperative Committees engaged in Tendu leaf collection for the year 2012. He also started distribution of smart card, solar study lamp to school students besides distribution of agri kit to farmers, bicycle and sewing machines to women workers of the unorganised sector.
Earlier, thousands of people greeted the Chief Minister on his arrival in this district facing Maoist insurgency for decades.
Notably, the Chief Minister had constituted nine new districts in January 2012 and with 2.5 lakh population and 3335 square kilometre geographical area, Sukma, too, was one of them. After the formation of new districts this was first Vikas Yatra under taken by Dr Singh.
Addressing the large gathering, the Chief Minister said that within one year and four months, Sukma has witnessed a number of development projects unfolding due to which development has got momentum vindicating the decision of State Government to creating smaller district for all round development. Singh said that during the past 10 years, his Government has scripted many new schemes focusing on rural areas, poor, farmers and other needy sections of the society, leading to remarkable change in the living standards of the people.