Jharkhand govt receives 58 lakh applications for various schemes

Ranchi: More than 57.52 lakh applications were received during the third leg of the state government’s ambitious outreach programme, an official said on Saturday.

The third phase of Apki Yojana, Apki Sarkar, Apke Dwar (your scheme, your government at your doorstep) started from November 24 and concluded on December 29.

"A total of 57,52,882 applications have been received from November 24 till December 26. It might increase by a few more thousand as the final figures are yet to come," the official said.

According to a government document released on Friday during a function to mark the completion of four years of the JMM-led government, 19,63,537 applications have been disposed of while 17,433 have been rejected due to various issues. Around 37.71 lakh applications are pending.

Interestingly, more than 30 lakh applications have been received for the Abua Awas Yojana, a state government housing scheme, during the outreach programme.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren had launched his government’s ambitious housing scheme on November 15 to provide houses to those who were deprived of the benefit under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Under the Abua Awas scheme, the government plans to build over 8 lakh houses at a cost of Rs 16,320 crore by March 31, 2026. Around two lakh people will be provided houses in the current fiscal, 3.5 lakh houses will be completed in the next financial year and 2.5 lakh in 2025-26.

Soren on Friday said, "Initially, we planned for around eight lakh houses under the scheme, but now it appears that the number may go much higher. However, the government is committed to provide houses to all even if it takes two or three years."

Over 1.73 lakh applications have been received for opening of new work under MGNREGA, over 1.55 lakh for Guruji Credit Cards, 88,331 for caste certificates, 37,421 for birth certificates, 6,849 for death certificates, 6,236 for individual forest rights and 60,348 for income certificates, according to the document.

Out of 24 districts, Ranchi topped the list with 4.6 lakh applications, followed by Dhanbad (4.37 lakh) and Palamu (3.55 lakh).

The government had initiated the outreach programme in 2021. As many as 35,95,581 applications were received during first phase between November 15 and December 28, 2021.

In the second phase, which was conducted in two parts from October 12 to October 22 and November 1 to November 14, 2022, a total of 55,44,554 applications were received. Around 94.76 per cent applications had been disposed of in the first phase and 97.77 per cent in the second.

Soren said the outreach programme will be conducted every year in Jharkhand.