Raipur. Vishnu Dev Sai government in Chhattisgarh has given priority to issues like education, health and employment to ensure participation of tribal community in development. The dream of holistic development is coming true in tribal dominated areas. The way health, road, communication and security network is being strengthened in the remote areas of the state, the tribal class is getting the most benefit from it. While this is bringing quality in the standard of living of the tribal society, this wind of good governance is also helping in defeating the problem of left wing extremism in the state. In these areas, PM Janman Yojana run by the Central Government and the Niyyad Nella Nar Yojana of the State Government are proving to be game changers.
One third of the population of about 3 crore in Chhattisgarh is from the tribal community. To remove the backwardness of these communities, the Sai government has given special focus on education, health, employment and security. Apart from this, new efforts are being made to reach the schemes of the Central and State Government to them. A new environment is being created by the schemes being run for the social, economic and cultural upliftment of the tribal community. The government has worked on all these issues in the last 10 months. Whether the issue is housing, drinking water, electricity or roads, work is being done rapidly on all the basic needs of the tribal community.
The state government’s Niyyad Nella Nar (Your Good Village) scheme is proving to be an innovative initiative for public welfare. Under this scheme, 96 villages falling within a radius of 5 km around the new camps established in the Maoist-affected areas are being selected and basic resources like housing, hospital, water, electricity, bridges, schools etc. are being provided under 53 schemes of 17 departments of the government and 28 community facilities. On the initiative of the Chief Minister, students of Maoist terror-affected districts of Chhattisgarh will get interest-free loans for technical and vocational education. Students of the remaining districts will be provided loans at an interest rate of 1 percent. The maximum limit of education loan for interest subsidy has been kept at Rs 4 lakh.
Security and development have been made the key mantra to stop left wing extremism in tribal areas, and its meaningful results are visible. Along with providing the benefits of government schemes to the people living in these areas, they are also being given all the necessary facilities. During the last 10 months, 195 Maoists were killed in encounters. 34 forward security camps were established. In the near future, it is proposed to establish 30 new camps by redeployment in South Bastar and Maad.
Under the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Special Health Assistance Scheme, assistance of Rs 20 lakh is being provided to the poor families in the state for the treatment of serious diseases. Moving forward on the path of prosperity through health, the Chhattisgarh government is making the hospitals in tribal areas fully equipped. The Chhattisgarh government has decided to provide free ration to 68 lakh poor families for 05 years, for this there is a provision of Rs 3400 crore in the budget. The tribal community is also getting its benefits.
Under the PM Janman Yojana launched by the Central Government, work is being done rapidly to provide basic facilities in tribal settlements. There is a provision of 20 crores for the development of families of backward tribal groups in the state. There is a provision of 2 crore 72 lakhs in the supplementary for the operation of 57 mobile medical units in these areas. There is an additional provision of 3 crore 76 lakhs for the electrification of PVTG.
In Chhattisgarh, the tribal community is mostly settled in forest areas. Road network is being expanded in these areas. The Central Government is also building an economy corridor from Raipur to Visakhapatnam under the Bharat Mala Project. Tribal areas will also get direct benefit from this. The country’s largest steel plant has also been started by the Central Government in Nagar Nar, this has given new impetus to the development of Bastar region.
To increase direct connectivity to the tribal areas of the state and Ayodhya Dham, the Chief Minister has demanded to declare the total 282 km route from Raigarh-Dharamjaygarh-Mainpat-Ambikapur-Uttar Pradesh border as National Highway. This route passes through four districts of the state and is the main route connecting the religious city of Ayodhya to Chhattisgarh state. This route has got the green signal from the Government of India.
Prime Minister Janjati Unnat Gram Abhiyan is being started by the Central Government to accelerate the socio-economic development of tribal families by giving priority to the tribal society. With this scheme, 5 crore tribal people from 63,000 villages across the country will be the beneficiaries. Tribal society, which is about 30 percent of the population of Chhattisgarh, will get direct benefit. Similarly, the increase in the agricultural budget will be done for farming and farmers.
