Seeing daily wagers carry their food in cloth and plastic covers during his Vikas Yatra inspired Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh to launch a "tiffin scheme" here on Friday.
Recalling his visit to some MGNREGA work sites in Bilaspur district, the CM said, "In a remote village, workers had brought food in cloth, some in plastic covers and were eating it under a tree. I wished to taste the food and asked a woman, who shared it with me though she had only a little. It was all mish-mash but tasty. It is then that I decided that these workers need something to carry their food neatly. Few schemes are generated from the heart and one such is this,” he said giving away tiffin carriers to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) workers at a function here.
Called "Chief Minister's Tiffin Scheme", the CM said Within one-and-a-half months, 10.80 lakh workers would be covered under the scheme.
Government work is not limited to the construction of bridges and roads. Building the lives of people and making it better is the primary task and efforts are on to brighten the lives of the poor. Schemes for the education of children, health insurance ‘Kanyadaan’ (marriage of daughters) and others are all aimed at bringing joy into every household, Raman Singh said.
Schemes galore
He reiterated the slippers scheme for 14 lakh tribal tendu leaf pluckers and said the Opposition had mocked him for it. Chhattisgarh is the first state to provide 150 days of work under MGNREGA and three months maternity leave with wages, he said.
Health smart cards entitle poor to free treatment in hospitals, and the ceiling has been hiked to Rs 50,000 from Rs 30,000. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Ayushmaan Scheme’ would cover 5.40 lakh families, the CM said, adding that these are not one-time election schemes but permanent measures governed by laws.
From a state known for migration and hunger deaths, Chhattisgarh has evolved as the "Fort of development", Raman Singh said and noted that the free mobile scheme for women enabled "village sisters" to talk to him directly about their problems.