Reiterating Government’s commitment to provide better facilities to the people in the rural areas, Minister for Social Welfare, Forests, Ecology & Environment, Bali Bhagat today said that Government has formulated a well-knit programme to upgrade the existing infrastructure to ensure improved basic services to the people.Addressing a largely attended public meeting at Lower Gharota Panchayat in Raipur-Domana constituency, the Minister said that Government’s main focus is to upgrade the essential services like drinking water, road connectivity, education, electricity, health services, and transport to improve the living conditions of people across the State. These are the basic facilities which can ensure progress and prosperity in the society, adding that the concerned departments have been directed to submit the status of these sectors with requirements of funds to upgrade these on priority.
Bhagat said that necessary instructions to the officers of these departments have been conveyed to monitor these services minutely so that the people do not suffer for want of these. He said that field functionaries have been mobilized to tone up their functioning to attend people’s problems without any fail. The senior officers have been directed to pay frequent field visits to personally monitor the status of essential services in the rural areas and plug the gaps on the spot, if any, said the Minister.Responding to the demands of people, the Minister assured to provide assistance to 12 poorest of the poor beneficiaries for construction of thier residential shelters under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY). He directed the concerned officers to identify the deserving beneficiaries and submit the detail to arrange the funds. The Minister also asked for submission of details for construction of 50 toilet units under Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) in the Panchayat. He also directed to the engineers of the R&B to prepare the DPR for repair/blacktopping of all link roads in the constituency so that the funds for the same are arranged. He also issued directions for undertaking the repairs of lanes and drains in the Panchayat.
Highlighting the State’s ambitious social scheme Beti Padao-Beti Bachao, the Minister asked the people to register all such girl children who born after Ist April, 2015 with the concerned authorities to avail the benefits available under the scheme. He said the Government has launched this scheme to promote the girl child to maintain the sex ratio, which was adversely affected during the previous one decade in the State.Regarding the disbursement of pensions under various schemes, the Minister assured that all pending cases will be cleared very soon. He asked the concerned officers to collect the fresh forms from the deserving beneficiaries for sanction of pension under different categories. He asked the people to maintain close liaison with the department of social welfare to avail benefits of various social schemes.Sectoral officers of different departments, Sarpanchs, panchs and large number of people from different parts of Raipur-Domana were also present on the occasion.