5L new houses will be built for the poor, says CM Saini

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Sunday said the government would build five lakh houses for the poor in urban and rural areas in the state.

Addressing a gathering on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Maharishi Valmiki in Jind, the Chief Minister said under the Mukhyamantri Shehri Awas Yojana, 15,250 poor families had been given plots of 30 square yards in 14 cities. He added that a detailed plan to give plots in the remaining cities would be made soon.

The CM said houses were being built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to provide a roof over the head of every poor person. He said under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the keys of 15,000 houses would be handed over to the eligible persons soon. Not only this, an amount of Rs 80,000 is also given for the repair of houses under Dr BR Ambedkar Awas Navinikarn Yojana, he added.

On this occasion, the Chief Minister announced an amount of Rs 51 lakh for Maharishi Valmiki Bhawan in Narwana. He said assistance would also be given to build a hostel in Hisar.

The Chief Minister said the state government had implemented the classification of reservation for Scheduled Castes into two categories — ‘Deprived Scheduled Castes’ (DSCs) and ‘Other Scheduled Castes (OSCs)’. “Of the 20 per cent quota reserved for the Scheduled Castes in direct recruitment in government services, half i.e. 10 per cent quota has been reserved for candidates from DSCs. If suitable candidates from DSCs are not available, the remaining vacant posts would be filled from among candidates from OSCs. Similarly, if suitable candidates from OSCs are not available, candidates from DSCs would be considered for the remaining vacant posts. Earlier, the government provided 20 per cent reservation to Scheduled Castes in first and second class posts,” he said.

Saini said to ensure no poor person remained hungry, 48 lakh BPL families of the state were being given free foodgrain. Apart from this, about 13 lakh LPG connections have been given to the women of poor families under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. The state government was providing gas cylinders to BPL families for Rs 500.

Social Justice, Empowerment, Scheduled Caste and Backward Class Welfare and Antyodaya Minister Krishan Kumar Bedi, Deputy Speaker Krishan Lal Middha, BJP state chief Mohan Lal Badoli, Education Minister Mahipal Dhanda, Cooperation Minister Dr Arvind Sharma, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shyam Singh Rana, Public Works Minister Ranbir Singh Gangwa, MPs, MLAs and others participated in the function.