The Chhattisgarh government has erased the footprints of poverty and malnutrition with the help of development and skill training of youth, said a determined Chief Minister Raman Singh
The minister also marked 14 years of his uninterrupted rule in the tribal-dominated state on Thursday.
The Chief Minister (CM) was speaking at the first Mail Today ‘Skill and Entrepreneurship Summit’ at a glittering function in Delhi. The three-term CM and veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader introduced the audience to two radiant girls from his state.
‘I would like all of you to meet Lalita Ikka and Sita Naag. My daughters (the girls) have come from one of the most backward, isolated villages in Chhattisgarh in district Jashpur.
‘They took the benefit of fire safety training under the skill development schemes offered by our government, and are today providing services in the Capital city, Delhi,’ he said.
‘With their background, they could have been farm labourers or household maids. But they are examples of a new, shining Chhattisgarh that is growing by leaps and bounds.’
The CM, known for developing the most robust public distribution system (PDS) of ration food in the world, said there were many challenges before the state.
‘Chhattisgarh has been in existence for only 17 years now. Even our Bastar is bigger than Kerala. Over 45 per cent of our land is under forest cover. Plus, decades of negligence of the region had pushed it into darkness,’ he explained.
‘But now, we are developing our population. We have created skill upgradation colleges in 27 districts.
‘We have tied up with 2,000 plus vocation training providers like Maruti in the automobile sector and several hospitals, created a whole education hub in Sukma, 68 nursing colleges, several agricultural colleges and schools.
‘Chhattisgarh has already been recognised as the fastest growing state in the country and has gained reputation on national and international level.’
Singh informed the audience about the sectors in which the youth of the state is being trained.
‘People here have traditionally been into mining of minerals and collecting forest produce. So training is being given to them for doing these better and making more earnings, he said.
‘Minor forest produce here includes tendu leaves, saal leaves, honey, herbs, mahua, lac, etc. We are providing our tribal markets to sell these to, and tying up with various food processing companies. Further, we are skilling them in poultry, dairy and fishery,’ he said.
‘Even our murga kadaknath (a breed of chicken) is selling across India now. At least 50 SHGs (self-help groups) have come up in Chhattisgrah which are rearing these murgas and selling them to various hotels and restaurants.’
The CM also noted that after the formation of a new government at the Centre under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the pace of development has increased in Chhattisgarh, in line with the spirit of ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas’ (all together, development for all).
Singh said the state government has consistently worked for the betterment of the poor, farmers and all the sections of society.
He also stated that the government was committed to the development of the state, including basic necessities of people such as education, health, roads, communication, electricity and drinking water.
‘We have laid out several hundred kilometers of road network in spite of the Naxal problem. We lost 12 BSF jawans to just rolling out 1km of road in our Naxal infested areas, so you can judge how difficult it is,’ he underlined.
‘We have laid out 600 km of cable lines in Bastar, providing smartphones free of cost so that people may benefit of connectivity and internet, and given 50,000 solar pumps for irrigation work to our farmers.
‘We are not leaving any stone unturned in turning around the state.’