Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today distributed compensation of more than Rs. 11.31 crore under 'Punrvaas' Scheme to the disaster affected families of Solan district. The compensation includes rupees three lakh each as the first installment, provided to 377 families whose houses were completely damaged due to the monsoon-led disaster.
The government has so far provided a compensation amount of Rs. 42.53 crore to the disaster affected people of Solan district.Around 8700 families have been affected due to the disaster in Solan district. 377 houses in the district were completely destroyed whereas about 500 houses were partially damaged.
The Chief Minister said that the compensation amount in case of complete damage to the house has been increased over five times from Rs 1.30 lakh to Rs. 7 lakh. The state government is also providing free electricity and water connection to the affected and were given cement for house construction at government rates of Rs. 280 per bag, said Sh. Sukhu. Apart from this, the compensation given in case of partial damage to kutcha and pucca houses has been increased to rupees one lakh.
He said that the state government understands the pain of every affected person and adequate assistance was being provided to every disaster affected.He said that a proposal was brought by the state government in the Assembly to declare the calamity as a National Disaster, but the BJP remained indifferent during this period and did not support the proposal.
He further stated that no special package has been received from the Central Government as yet. The State Government was doing its best with it limited resources to provide relief to the affected families. The government has changed the requirements and has also announced a special package of Rs. 4500 crore to help the affected people.
The Chief Minister said that the government inherited a loan of about Rs. 75,000 crore from the previous government. However, the government was effectively dealing with the challenges with the cooperation of the people, employees and officials of the state. "The state government was not here to enjoy the power instead was working with the moto of 'Vyavstha Partivartan'.
No one from my family has been in politics. I have pledged of taking the benefits of government schemes to the most deprived," stated the Chief Minister.The state government has adopted 4000 orphans as Children of the State.
The government enacted the country's first law and started the Mukhyamantri Sukh Ashraya Yojana, under which government will take care of these children up to the age of 27 years and also bear the expenses of their higher education to make them self-reliant.
The Chief Minister said that the state government, in the last 10 months, has already fulfilled three guarantees and will fulfil the remaining ones in a phased manner. He stated that despite the financial crisis, the state government adopted the social and humanitarian approach and fulfilled the first guarantee by implementing the Old Pension Scheme for the government employees, so that they can live their lives with dignity after retirement.
He said the government has also fulfilled its promise of starting a Rs. 680 crore Rajiv Gandhi Self-Employment Start-up Scheme. Under the first phase, the e-taxi scheme has been launched with a provision of 50 percent subsidy to the youth for the purchase of e-taxi.
Around 200 applications have been under the scheme, which also ensures fixed income. He said that the second and third phase of this scheme would also be started soon to provide increased employment opportunities to the youth.
The Chief Minister said that due to the poor decisions of the previous government, the level of education declined in the state. But from the next academic session the state government is going to make major changes in all the government schools.
English will be started from class 1 in government schools. Smart uniforms will be provided to the students and clusters of schools will be formed for better management. To meet the shortage of teachers, guest faculty lectures will also be recruited.
He presented certificates to 11 beneficiaries under the Mukhyamantri Sukh Ashraya Yojana in Solan district. There are a total of 205 beneficiaries of this scheme in the district. Under the Srinivas Ramanujan Digital Student Scheme, tablets were provided to 26 meritorious students of Solan district. A total of 641 meritorious students will be provided tablets in Solan district.
On this occasion, Health Minister Dr. (Col.) Dhani Ram Shandil said that this year we have faced a huge tragedy due to excessive rains and the state government was making every possible effort to ease the sufferings of the affected people.
Jogindra Bank Chairman Mukesh Sharma presented a check of Rs. 2.51 crore to the Chief Minister in form as Agricultural Cooperative Stabilization Fund. He also presented a check of Rs. 20 lakh to the Chief Minister towards Aapda Rahat Kosh. Apart from this, Arki Block Congress presented a check of Rs. 2.63 lakh, Rotary Club Solan President MP Kanwar presented a check of Rs. 2.51 lakh and Advocate Vaibhav Kumar presented a check of Rs. 1.51 lakh to the Chief Minister towards Aapda Rahat Kosh.
The Chief Minister also launched the Platinum Card and UPI Payment System for the convenience of the customers of Jogindra Central Cooperative Bank. The bank transferred an amount of Rs. 1 lakh to the Aapda Rahat Kosh through UPI.
On this occasion, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries Ram Kumar Chaudhary and Sanjay Awasthi, MLAs Vinod Sultanpuri and KL Thakur, Baghat Bank Chairman Arun Sharma, Political Advisor to the Chief Minister Sunil Sharma, District Congress President Shiv Kumar, Mahila Congress State President Zainab Chandel, Congress leader Hardeep Singh Bawa, State Congress Committee General Secretary Surender Sethi, Deputy Commissioner Manmohan Sharma, Superintendent of Police Gaurav Singh, representatives of various Panchayats and other dignitaries were present.