Paying glowing tributes to the father of nation Mahatma Gandhi on his 149th birth anniversary, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday exhorted the people to follow the philosophy of peace and non-violence as propounded by Gandhi ji to carve out an egalitarian society.Addressing a gathering after inaugurating a mega camp on Mahatma Gandhi Sarbat Vikas Yojana (MGSVY) here at Kisan Vikas Chamber, the Chief Minister said Mahatma Gandhi ji was possibly the only global leader who won the battle of freedom through his ideology of non-violence. He said Gandhi ji was a great statesman and an iconic personality who widely travelled across the world to propagate his philosophy of love, peace and non-violence. Even a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela, who spent nearly 27 years in prison, was an admirer and follower of Gandhi’s ideology, he added.Underlining the significance of MGSVY, the Chief Minister said that the scheme was launched in the state to ensure inclusive development by reaching out all deprived sections of the society and to ensure that the benefits of all the schemes of socio-economic development reach the poorest of the poor as a befitting tribute to the Gandhi ji.The Chief Minister said that the Rural Development & Panchayats Department, being the nodal department, had organized mega camps in all the 22 districts and 90 sub-divisions across the state. He pointed out that the underprivileged/disadvantaged people across the state would be benefitted from 18 pro-poor initiatives such as ration card, atta-dal, MNREGA, Aashirwad scheme, ghar-ghar rozgar, debt relief etc.
The Chief Minister said that the sole objective of launching this scheme was to ensure that only the deserving and underprivileged sections of the society get the benefits of the state government's pro-poor initiatives.On the occasion, the Chief Minister handed over appointment letters to 31 persons under ghar-ghar rozgar scheme, besides cheques of debt waiver to 23 farmers and financial grant under Ashirwad scheme to five beneficiaries.The Chief Minister also interacted with the beneficiaries at different stalls during the mega camp, where nearly 4000 beneficiaries were registered under various citizen centric schemes.A MoU was signed between Invest Punjab and Mahindra Waste to Energy Solutions Limited for a project to effectively convert waste to wealth at a cost of Rs.15 crore in the presence of Chief Minister. After extensive research in Punjab, Mahindra & Mahindra has decided to put up this pilot Bio-Methanation project and expressed its willingness to support the state government by processing 10,000 tons of paddy/wheat straw per year.This project would go a long way in providing a permanent solution to the menace of stubble burning. This initiative is expected to generate direct employment for 50-75 persons and support around 1000 farmers in the vicinity of the plant
Earlier, in his welcome address, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Labour Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu thanked theChief Minister for giving special attention to the development of Mohali, which would soon emerge as a world-class city in the country.Financial Commissioner Rural Development & Panchayats Anurag Verma presented a brief presentation about the salient features of the MGSVY. He said as many as 65,000 persons would be enrolled for seeking benefits under various pro-poor schemes in such mega camps being organized today in the different parts of the state. He also mentioned that 6.33 lac beneficiaries had been benefitted so far under this scheme from June to August 2018.Deputy Commissioner Gurpreet Kaur Sapra proposed a vote of thanks on the occasion.Prominent amongst others who were present on the occasion were Media Advisor to CM Raveen Thukral, former Minister Jagmohan Singh Kang, Senior Congress leader Deepinder Singh Dhillon, ACS Housing & Urban Development Vini Mahajan, ACS Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Dairy Development G. Vijralingam, Special Principal Secretary to CM Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, Secretary Employment Generation Rahul Tiwari, Secretary Agriculture KS Pannu, Director Food & Civil Supplies Anindita Mitra, Joint Development Commissioner-cum-Mission Director MGSVY Tanu Kashyap, Registrar Cooperative Societies Vikas Garg, Director Social Security Kavita Mohan Singh Chauhan, OSDs to CM Jagdeep Singh Sidhu and Sandeep Singh Brar.