Bhopal:Tuesday, September 9, 2008:Updated 21:The Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan has reiterated the state government’s commitment to eliminating poverty in the state. He called upon the Self-Help Groups to extend their full cooperation in the efforts of the state government in this regard. He assured that no effort would be spared to provide means of livelihood to the poor and to free them from the clutches of moneylenders.
The Chief Minister was addressing a huge convention of Self-Help Groups organised at the Jamboree Ground here today. Minister for Women and Child Development Smt. Kusum Mehadele, Minister for Rural Development Shri Rustam Singh, Minister of State for Rural Development Sushri Meena Singh and State BJP president Shri Narendra Singh Tomar were also present on the occasion.
Shri Chouhan said that the focus of the state government is on mitigating the sufferings of the poor. The government stands by the poor in their struggle against poverty. It is the poor who needs the government the most and the state government would make it sure their problems are solved.
Minimum Wages to be Linked to Price Index
The Chief Minister said that Madhya Pradesh is rich in forest, mineral, water and human resources and these resources would be exploited to the optimum to eliminate poverty in the state. He said that the minimum wage for workers has been increased from Rs. 69 to Rs. 85 in the state. Now these wages would be increased with price hike. The Chief Minister dwelt at length on the provisions under Mukhya Mantri Majdoor Suraksha Yojana, schemes for benefit of construction workers and Deen Dayal Upchar Yojana saying that no poor in the state would be allowed to sleep without meal or die in absence of medical treatment.
The Chief Minister showered a slew of gifts for Self-Help Groups at the convention. He informed about the Self-help Groups Promotion Policey-2007 and Employment Oriented Training Policy-2007 for empowerment of these groups and to implement integrated livelihood programme. He said that 40 lakh BPL families would be brought above poverty line in next five years through livelihood programme.
The Chief Minister administered an oath to the members of Self-Help Groups to work with commitment against poverty. Shri Chouhan also met the members of these groups and gave a patient hearing to their problems. At the outset Shri Chouhan showered rose petals on the members of the Self-Help Groups at the venue.
Announcements for Self-Help Groups
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A Hat Bazar would be set up at a cost of Rs. 50 lakh at every district headquarter to provide marketing facility for the products of Self-Help Groups.
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Aprons, globs and other necessary material would be provided to the 50 thousand odd Self-Help Groups engaged in mid-day meal programme to ensure proper hygiene during cooking.
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Twenty five rural development and self-employment training centres would be set up with the cooperation of banks for capacity building of members of Self-Help Groups by providing them vocational training. The state government would provide half acre land free of cost for establishment of these centres.
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A total of 1574 facilitation groups including the existing ones would be constituted for effective implementation of the Integrated Livelihoods Programme. A total of 13 thousand subject experts would be appointed in them, who would work towards making these groups strong and viable. The state government would provide Rs. 135 crore annually to meet the administrative expenditure of the offices of new 1126 teams.
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Village uplift committees would be constituted in all the villages to provide loan to the members of Self-Help Groups to meet their minor needs. The loans would be provided through micro financing. The state government would encourage these committees.
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A Self-Help Group Promotion Policy-2007 has been implemented in the state for empowerment of Self-Help Groups. Madhya Pradesh is the first state of the country to do so.
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Loans at the lowest interest rate would be provided to the Self-Help Groups in the state. For this, the members would be required to pay only 5 percent interest. The rest would be provided by the state government in the shape of subsidy.
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In order to link the Self-Help Groups to major markets their activity based federations would be constituted. Working capital subsidy of Rs. 25 lakh would be provided to each federation for constitution, conduct, branding, packaging and infrastructure development.
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The products of Self-Help Groups may be directly purchased by government departments. The purchase rules would be suitably amended for this purpose.
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The state government would provide 25 percent of the cost on office buildings, godowns, processing units of Self-Help Groups/their federations and land would be provided at concessional rates to them.
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The state government would cent percent amount for training of youths from BPL families. The state government would share 50 percent cost on the training of youths from APL families.
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Employment fairs would be held in every district of the state. Next year employment would be provided to about one lakh youths. About 42500 youths have been selected by business establishments through 19 fairs held so far.
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A livelihood centre would be set for every two panchayats to provide facilities to the families going out of districts of the state in search of employment. These centres would provide them information about employment opportunities and help them get job in suitable establishments.
The Minister for Rural Development informed that all the announcements made at the convention of Self-Help Groups held at the Lal Parade Ground in year
2006 have already been fulfilled. He lauded the Chief Minister for providing protection to the Self-Help Groups.
State BJP president Shri Narendra Singh Tomar said that after a long time since independence of the country the poor of the state have now got the benefits of development in true sense. He said that the state government is committed to making the Self-Help Groups fully self-reliant.
Members of the Self-Help Groups from various districts also expressed their views. Smt. Shaheen Khan(Khandwa), Smt. Chandabai Munnalal(Burhanpur), Smt. Chandadevi(Satna), Shri Dwarka Prasad Verma(Seoni), Ku, Papia Sarkar(Panna), Ku. Rekha Jain (Damoh), Shri Kaniram (Gadarwara), Smt. Omvati Verma (Narsinghpur), Smt. Suraj Bai (Vidisha), Shri Balram Lodhi (Balaghat) and Smt. Krishna Bhadoria (Bhind) spoke about the positive improvement in their living standard after getting associated with Self-Help Groups. They particularly lauded Mukhya Mantri Kanyadan Yojana, Ladli Laxmi Yojana, Janani Suraksha Yojana, Majdoor Suraksha Yojana, Gaon Ki Beti Yojana, free distribution of uniforms and cycles to girl students and Deen Dayal Antyodaya Upchar Yojana.