Chief Minister Raman Singh paid a surprise visit to Basing village of heavily insurgency-infested Abujhmad region of Narayanpur district in Bastar region on the first day of the almost month-long 'lok Suraj Mission' on Thursday.
On his arrival, Singh held ‘Chaupal’ under Kusum Tree and gave patient hearing to grievances of villagers.
The Chief Minister sanctioned development works worth nearly Rs three crore, on request of villagers, which included construction of roads, community halls, wells, electricity etc. He also approved construction of community hall in Kohkameta.
Singh approved construction of 10 wells each in Gram Panchayat Basing, Kohkameta, Kondla and Gram Panchayat Sonpur under MNREGA.
During this visit, Chief Minister was accompanied by Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Aman Kumar Singh.
later, the Chief Minister also met villagers at Bhopalpatnam of Bijapur district during lok Suraj Abhiyan.
He issued directives to the Chief Secretary to ensure recruitment of doctors on vacant posts so that uninterrupted health services could be provided in the district.
During his visit, Singh inspected male ward, female ward, Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre, Maternity Ward and X-ray Ward.
He interacted with the patients and took information about the facilities provided to them.
In the Nutrition Rehabilitartion Centre, Singh asked mothers of the children admitted about the health facilities provided to them.
He requested mothers to follow the advice of doctors so as to ensure speedy recovery of children.
The Chief Minister took information from on-duty nurses about institutional delivery in maternity centre. Nurses informed that everyday number of delivery cases is received.
He asked senior officials of Medical Department regarding number of vacant posts of doctors in the district, and issued directives to to Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand to ensure recruitment on these posts soon.
On the occasion, Forest Minister Mahesh Gagda, Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand, Principal Secretary of Chief Minister Aman Kumar Singh, Commissioner, Bastar Division Dilip Wasnikar, Inspector General of Police , Bastar divison, SRP Kalluri, Collector Dr Ayaz Tamboli, and SP Kl Dhruv and a number of public representatives and officials of various departments were also present.
The Chief Minister had boarded the helicopter at the Police lines Ground in Raipur on Thursday morning for embarking on the lok Suraj Mission.
While speaking to mediapersons earlier in Raipur, he said that lok Suraj campaign will help the State Administration understand the ground realities and change policies as per the needs of the masses.
“I want to know whether the policies and programmes are being implemented in the rural areas as per the needs and aspirations of the masses or not. Farmers have ample time during the summer months and is an ideal time to understand their needs and viewpoint”, Singh stated.
Meanwhile, State Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal on the first day of lok Suraj Mission visited village Chatod and Darbha in Arang Developmental Block conducted a 'Choupal' with the villagers. He sanctioned Rs 7.27 crore for various developmental works in the villages on Wednesday.
Agrawal called upon the Department officials in the presence of the villagers to give an account of various developmental works. He added that for the next one month State Government will work from the midst of the masses. lok Suraj Mission is launched to understand the ground situation and mould the policies and programmes as per the needs of the masses. It will create confidence among the villagers in the authorities.
The Minister said that authorities are keen on developing rural regions and cities similarly. The views of the masses are taken into account while formulating policies and social welfare schemes.
He called upon the farmers and farm labourers to take advantage of the programmes of the State Government. The severe drought in various parts of the State had made the lives of farmers very difficult. Farmers were put to heavy losses.
The State Government had taken several steps to ameliorate the sufferings of farmers and those dependent on agriculture. Seeds had been provided free of cost to the farmers in the drought-affected areas. Short-term loans had been converted into long-term loans, the Minister stated.