A Chief Minister should not be at peace until availability of food is ensured to each andevery individual of his State. “Keeping the welfare of masses above party politics, we have ensured food and health care for all in Chhattisgarh,” said Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh while addressing a huge public gathering at Charama of North Bastar (Kanker) district on Thursday, the fourth day of his state-wide Vikas Yatra.
Even the scorching heat of summer could not deter the enthusiasm of Chief Minister and State government officials accompanying him from going on with the Vikas Yatra and interact with public. Rather the response of the people of Charama emboldened chief minister’s caravan to continue with the journey.
In his address to the massive gathering on the fourth day of Vikas Yatra, the Chief Minister talked about the 'cash transfer scheme' of the central government and said that mere Rs 600 cash cannot be a substitute to the low-cost food grain supply for a poor ration-card-holder family and hence, the existing public distribution system in Chhattisgarh is best-suited to the people of this state. On the occasion, the Chief Minister also dedicated and performed Bhumi-Pujan of a number of development and construction works worth over Rs 16 crore at Charama.
In order to solve the problem of low-voltage at Charama, the Chief Minister announced construction of a 132 KV power sub-station. Moreover, he also gave approval to Government College, Charama to start the courses of MA and B Com besides assuring that necessary steps will be taken to upgrade the Gram Panchayat Sambalpur to the status of Nagar Panchayat and a proper action plan will be chalked out by departments concerned to repair the roads in the area.
Talking about Chhattisgarh Food Security Act, the Chief Minister said that the sole objective of the Act is to ensure food security to people so that even the poorest of the people can make their ends meet. The soul of this initiative lies in the thought that a Chief Minister cannot be at peace until and unless he has ensured availability of food to every person of state. Moreover, giving due respect to the women power, new ration cards under the food security act are being issued in the names of female head of the family, who are considered as the 'Annapurna' and the 'lakshmi' in our culture, added Dr Singh.
Similarly, as a compassionate initiative to lend a helping hand to poor patients, who are unable to avail medical services due to financial crisis, State Government has initiated Mukhyamantri Swasthya Beema Yojana so that all 56 lakh families in the state, irrespective of their income, caste or creed, can be issued smart cards and given the facility to avail medical services up to Rs 30,000 in any of the registered hospitals, said the Chief Minister. Meanwhile, he also mentioned various public welfare schemes of state government that have brought about significant change in the lives of people.
Scheduled Castes / Sche-duled Tribes Development Minister Kedar Kashyap, Forest Minister Vikram Usendi, lok Sabha Member Sohan Potai, and MlA Bramhanand Netam were also present with Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh, during his address to the public gathering in Charama.