Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh said on Tuesday that the State is being recognised as an ideal State of nation in the field of women empowerment and as a result of 50 per cent reservation for women in panchayats, large number of women have got the opportunity to acquire over 56 per cent of the posts in gram panchayats, janpad panchayats and zila panchayats where they are significantly contributing to the development of villages and blocks.
Addressing the gatherings in village Aalikhunta, Ranitarai, and Maharajpur of Rajnandgaon block Singh said that with the hard work of farmers, Chhattisgarh has set record in the field of agricultural production.
He appealed people to make collective efforts with Government departments and administration so that each person of every family in all the villages is benefited by the schemes of Government. Meanwhile, Singh also informed the villagers about the recent decisions of State Government in larger interest of poor, farmers and various sections of society.
At village Aalikhunta, Singh inaugurated the mini-stadium, an Aanganbadi building and a community hall at Sahu Para, and also took part in the Bhoomi Pujan for Dhorsa pond deepening work to be done with estimated budget of Rs 8.45 lakh. On the occasion, he also distributed sewing machines to 48 women labourers, bicycles to six women labourers and tool-kits to 140 other labourers for free of cost under various schemes of Chhattisgarh Bhavan Avam Anya Sannirman Karmkar Kalyan Mandal.
The Chief Minister provided Antyoday Ration Cards to 16 villagers, and approved construction of a functional hall, boundary walls for primary school etc.
In village Maharajpur, subsidy grant of 80,000 each was distributed to eight farmers for puddle construction in their farms, during Kisaan Mela cum Seminar organised by Agriculture department. later, Chief Minister also distributed cheques to the beneficiaries under various subsidy schemes of agriculture department and distributed sewing machines, bicycles and tool-kits to the labourers of unorganised sector.
At a programme organised in village Ranitarai, Singh announced approval of funds for construction of high school building, ground levelling and construction of cultural building, in the next budget. He also assured that the problems of drinking-water supply in Ranitarai will be redressed very soon.
During the general meeting, Singh informed the public about various schemes and decisions of State Government. He said that Chhattisgarh is the first State of nation to have introduced Food Security Act and empower the poor and needy people of State with the right to avail supply of food grains at low price.
The Skill Development Right Bill was passed in the recent Budget Session of the State Assembly, with an aim to provide training to the youth of State for employment and self-employment opportunities. And in this way, Chhattisgarh has become the first State to have passed Skill Development Right Bill. The State Government also has plans to distribute equipments for free of cost to the women labourers engaged in agricultural work.
Chief Minister also informed that the entire procedure of allotting SC/ST/OBC caste certificates to the applicants has been made easier for the convenience of students and again Chhattisgarh is the first State to have taken such initiative.
He claimed that his government has also decided to provide employment of additional 50 days to the labourers under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS). And with implementation of the same, Chhattisgarh will become the first state to provide employment of 150 days to the labourers under MNREGS. In accordance with recently taken decisions of government, pregnant women labourers deployed under MNREGS will be given wage of one month and maternity leave.