CM Sukhu announces scheme for poor families not under Himachal government welfare net

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu Saturday said that his government will launch the Mukhyamantri Apna Parivar Sukhi Parivar Yojana from Solan on October 2, under which around two lakh families are expected to receive assistance.

Under the scheme, women from eligible families will receive a monthly pension of Rs 1,500, besides 300 units of free electricity. The Chief Minister said the initiative was aimed at ensuring that even the most marginalised sections of society received their rightful share of the state’s resources.

Addressing a public gathering in Kangra, Sukhu said surveys were being conducted in panchayats to identify eligible beneficiaries. He said around 90,000 families had so far been identified as having not benefited from any government welfare scheme.

Sukhu said his government had taken several measures since coming to power to make Himachal Pradesh self-reliant and claimed that the results of these efforts were now becoming visible. Sukhu further announced that state's first ozone-based drinking water treatment project was being established in Dehra at a cost of Rs 46 crore.

The project will use ozone gas to disinfect water and improve its taste, providing treated drinking water to residents. Similar projects would subsequently be taken up at other locations across the state, he said. Sukhu also announced the opening of a veterinary hospital at Baddal Thor and said steps would be taken to ensure round-the-clock functioning of the Community Health Centre at Kasba Kotla.

He further announced that a new SDM office would be opened at Dadasiba, with its notification to be issued shortly. Sukhu also released Rs 3,500 each to 1,012 fisher families under the Mukhyamantri Matsya Samman Nidhi Yojana through direct benefit transfer.

In Hamirpur, he laid the foundation stone for a Rs 17.52-crore building of Government Senior Secondary School, Nadaun. The building will include classrooms, laboratories, a library and other facilities. Highlighting other government initiatives, Sukhu said the Rajiv Gandhi Van Samvardhan Yojana had been launched to involve youth and women’s groups in plantation and forest protection.

Under the scheme, self-help groups would receive financial assistance of Rs 1.20 lakh, besides incentives linked to the survival of plantations. He said the government was also strengthening the education sector, including through the opening of CBSE schools, with more such institutions planned in the coming period.