Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Saturday said that the efforts of government in aspirational districts are bearing fruits in Jharkhand with use of special grants to the State. The CM, while participating in the fifth Governing Council meeting of Niti Ayog in New Delhi on Saturday said that lives of people are being changed by spending Rs 150 crore in the aspirational districts of the State.
“19 out of 24 districts of the State have been selected as aspirational districts, out of which 16 districts are naxal affected. The Central government is giving special aid to these districts in terms of providing basic amenities such as drinking water, education, heath, roads among others. The State government is running various schemes in tribal dominated districts including Khunti, Sahebganj, Pakur, West Singhbhum, Simdega and Gumla. The government has spent Rs 150 crore in these districts to change lives of people there,” said the CM at the meeting.
Das said that Jharkhand has an average annual rainfall of 1300 millimeters, but for the last few years many districts have faced the problem of drought. “This year even less than 50 per cent of normal rainfall has been recorded. Given the problem of drought, the government is encouraging the farmers to grow crops that consume less water. Rainwater Harvesting Act was enacted in the year 2017 for water harvesting in urban areas,” he said.
The CM said in the Niti Ayog meeting that 21 districts of Jharkhand were affected with Left Wing Extremism, out of which 13 districts were severely affected by LWE. “Today this number has decreased considerably. In order to deal with this problem, the government has increased the number of police forces as well as the number of police stations. The number of police stations was 408, which has now increased to 547. The Special Task Force (Jharkhand Jaguar) has been formed to fight the Naxalites. In addition to this, 40 battalions are in the anti-Naxal campaign today. The battalion has a highly trained police force with modern weapons. Naxalism will end in Jharkhand completely in the coming days,’ said he.
In the meeting, the CM put the side of the State including agricultural reforms, rain water conservation, aspirational district programme, Essential Commodities Act 1955, internal security and relief and others issues. He apprised the Ayog about the activities related to the crop insurance scheme, Prime Minister Krishi Irrigation Scheme and other activities in the State. State Chief Secretary Dr. DK Tiwari was also present on behalf of Jharkhand.