Chhattisgarh: 30% reservation for women for recruitment on government posts, Facility of free education till post-graduation for daughters, CM spoke on the topic Nari Shakti

Raipur. In the 27th episode of radio programme ‘Lokvaani’ aired from Akashvani today, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel addressed people of the state on ‘Chhattisgarh Sarkar- Naari Shakti Ke Sarokaar’, saying that respect and honour for women is what defines our culture and civilization. Cultured society is the one that respects women. In Chhattisgarh, we are living up to our cultural value of honouring women and giving them the respect they deserve. This is the reason why women and daughters in the state are pursuing greater goals with confidence and determination.

Chief Minister Baghel said that we consider formation of Chhattisgarh state a historic event. Our forefathers had a wholesome vision for this state. For centuries, Chhattisgarh has been a folk state. People of this state are known for their traditions, festivals, vibrant colourful culture, love for nature, simplicity and love for motherland.  Fortunately, we got the opportunity to select an appropriate state song that beautifully describes these qualities of the state and people here. ‘Arpa Pairi Ke Dhaar, Mahanadi He Apaar, Indravato Ha Pakharay Tor Paiya’ written by Acharya Dr Narendra Dev Verma is the perfect tribute to Chhattisgarh Mahatari and it perfectly describes the devotion with which we want to serve Chhattisgarh state.

Chief Minister Baghel said that because of our forefathers we have got a constitution that gives equal rights to women. Percentage of women members in Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly is higher than any other Legislative Assembly in the country. There is a provision of 50% reservation in the elections of Panchayati Raj institutions. Women here have equal legal rights to own and control land, property and assets. 

Chief Minister said that we have made several  policy arrangements in the interest of women, which includes rights on immovable property. As a result of the provision of 1% exemption on stamp duty on registry of immovable property in the name of women, more than 50 thousand registries have been done in a year and exemption of more than Rs 37 crore has been provided. Facility of 30 percent reservation for recruitment on government posts has also been provided to women. In women's hostels and ashrams, 2 thousand 200 new posts of women's home guards have been created. Women help desks are being operated in 370 police stations of the state. Women's helpline 181 is being operated, by calling on which any women from any corner of the state can seek help in case of any problem.

Chief Minister Baghel said that we are planning to constitute women's security cell in every district to ensure a safe and secured environment for every women and girl in the state. Under District Mineral Trust Fund Board, fifty percent of the Gram Sabha members are women. New girls colleges have been opened in 9 districts, in our bid to ensure at least one girls college in each district. As a result of these efforts, the number of girls in government colleges has significantly increased, almost 1.5 times of the number of boys. These unprecedented efforts of Chhattisgarh have also been appreciated by NITI Aayog and Chhattisgarh has been ranked first for gender equality in the India-Index report for the year 2020-21.

Chief Minister Baghel said that many programs are being conducted in the state to ensure economic security of women and to provide them opportunity to become financially independent. Under Chhattisgarh Mahila Kosh of Chhattisgarh Government, loans worth more than 9 thousand 500 crores were given to about 39 thousand self-help groups. Out of these, 6 thousand 489 women self-help groups had come under the category of defaulters due to non-payment of loans of about Rs 13 crore. This blocked their way forward. We decided to rescue 6,489 such groups from distress and waived their loans. Besides, loans are being provided to women self-help groups at 3% simple interest rate per annum. Because of the arrangment we have made, these self help groups are now able to get loans sizing two to four times as compared to earlier. The interest rate under Saksham scheme was 6.5 percent, which we have reduced to 3 percent. In this way, we have made arrangements to give more financial aid to women for their business. Under other schemes as well, women are being provided more facilities than men.

Chief Minister Baghel said that daughters in Chhattisgarh have the choice on how they want to be associated with government schemes. Everyone's needs vary according to the circumstances of their family. For daughter who want to become self-employed by joining women self-help groups through Chhattisgarh State Rural Livelihood Mission, we have Bihaan scheme. Under Bihaan, nearly 22 lakh 14 thousand 426 women have joined 2 lakh 6 thousand 362 groups so far. Women and Child Development Department also conducts employment oriented activities through the formation of women self-help groups. In our new industrial policy 2019-2024, women self-help groups, agricultural producer groups have been given special eligibility for industrial investment promotion. Baghel said that we have formed 540 producer groups in 10 districts, through which 18 thousand 598 women farmers have been connected. In three years, 478 food processing units have been established in the state, in which a capital investment of Rs. 1167 crores has been received and more than 6 thousand people have got employment. Similarly, 52 units have been set up for processing minor forest produce. We have increased the number of forest produce purchased on support price from 7 to 65.  

121 products are 
being processed and sold under the brand name of ‘Chhattisgarh Herbal’. Self-help groups are also marketing 200 products through processing of forest produce. Women have a huge participation in all these works.

 Besides, providing remuneration for collection of minor forest produce and procuring it on support price, we are also providing dividend to the collectors and self-help groups. To take this partnership further, we are setting up C-Mart in every city. So far 8 thousand 48 Gauthans have been established in the state, through which more than 66 thousand women of 9 thousand 331 women self-help groups have been engaged in income-oriented activities. These groups have done a business of more than Rs 65 crores in a very short span of time. Under Godhan Nyay Yojana, more than 45 percent women have become direct participants. About 4 thousand BC Sakhis have been hired to provide door-to-door banking services in villages. I am happy to say that these BC Sakhis have done transactions worth Rs 455 crores so far. Under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA scheme, we have fulfilled 100 percent of the target by providing employment of 18 crore 41 lakh man-days in a year, 50 percent of which has been provided to women. We have also created better job opportunities for women in the state.

Chief Minister Baghel said that 171 Swami Atmanand English Medium Schools opened in the state are giving competition to the best private schools in terms of quality of education. Under this scheme, Hindi medium schools will also be opened from the new academic session. Chhattisgarh state has facility of free education for girls up to post-graduction.  Besides, 30 percent posts are reserved for girls in government jobs. Qualifications have been relaxed for District Cadre in Scheduled Areas. Now we have constituted Junior Services Selection Board, which is ensuring the recruitment of local people in 14 districts.

Chief Minister Baghel said that no challenge is too big for our daughters to overcome. Our daughters are capable of achieving all their goals under any circumstances. Daughters of Chhattisgarh have proven their mettle in various fields and sectors, whether it is sports or the administrative services.

Chief Minister Baghel said that during the pandemic, many heart-wrenching incidents were coming to the fore. Our government decided to take up the responsibility of educating the children who lost their parents to COVID-19. We arranged for free coaching and monthly scholarship of 500 to 1 thousand rupees for such children. Hot food and ready-to-eat, take-home rations are being provided to 1 lakh 71 thousand pregnant sisters through 'Mahtari Jatan Yojana'. Even during the time of COVID crisis, we distributed ready-to-eat food to the beneficiaries of the Anganbadi Centers. As soon as the outbreak of corona subsided a little, from January 5, 2022, arrangements for providing hot-cooked food were resumed in 51 thousand 415 Anganbadi. Kaushalya Matritva Yojana is an innovative scheme of our state. Earlier, there was a provision of incentive on the birth of the first daughter. But there was no financial aid provisioned for the birth of a second daughter. We identified this shortcoming and made 'Kaushalya Matritva Yojana' to rectify it. We have made a provision of Rs 5 thousand as incentive on the birth of a second daughter under Kaushalya Matritva Yojana. Recently we have also started a special scheme for registered labourer families engaged in construction works. Under 'Mukhyamantri Noni Sashaktikaran Sahayata Yojna', a lump sum amount of Rs 20-20 thousand will be paid in the bank account of the first two daughters of the beneficiaries registered under Chhattisgarh Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Scheme. In the same sequence, I would also like to mention the 'Dai-Didi Clinic Scheme', under which special healthcare facilities are being provided to women and girls.  Women take care of everyone in the family, but often forget about taking care of their own health. That's why we have made arrangements to build the entire hospital setup in mobile vehicles that visit various hamlets and localities, providing medical facilities to women.

Chief Minister Baghel said that when I took over as Chief Minister, the rate of malnutrition in the state in 2018 was 40 percent. This figure was appalling. Malnutrition means weaker foundation of the new generations. To solve this problem, we started 'Mukhyamantri Suposhan Abhiyan'. As a result of the dedicated steps taken under the scheme, the rate of malnutrition in Chhattisgarh has declined to 31.3 percent at present. That is, in about two years, we have succeeded in reducing the rate of malnutrition by 9 percent. In this way, now the malnutrition rate in Chhattisgarh has come down to less than the national average of 32.1 percent. At this pace, we can bring the rate of malnutrition in the state to single digit in the next 5 years. Under Suposhan Abhiyan, 1 lakh 70 thousand children have been cured of malnutrition and more than 1 lakh women have been cured of anemia.

In today's episode of Lokvaani, Chief Minister Baghel spoke to Saraswati of village Belgahna-Bilaspur, Vidya Markande Tuta-Raipur, Purnima Vishwakarma Bodla-Kabeerdham, Safia-Sarguja, Shailendri Verma-Durg, Riya Sidar- Raigarh, Sushila-Sukma and mountaineer from Raigarh Yashi Jain, Thai Boxing Gold Medalist Tekeshwari Sahu, Dantewada's Dannex employee Manisha Devangan. During the conversation, he said that 'Nava Chhattisgarh' will be built with the success stories of our daughters. I promise that we will continue to make efforts towards creating new facilities and opportunities. The daughters of Chhattisgarh are now pursuing greater goals and no one can stop them from moving forward. From education to employment, from villages to cities, from government jobs to self-employment, everywhere we have opened the way for the progress of daughters.