State’s role vital for upliftment of deprived sections of society: Virendra Kumar
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
The Union minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Virendra Kumar said that the States play a vital role in ensuring that the deprived sections of society benefit from government schemes. Speaking at Chintan Shivir 2025 here on Monday, he appreciated that representatives of 15 States are attending this national conference compared to eight States represented when the Chintan Shivir initiative was started in Agra.
He said that the objective of the Chintan Shivir is to create better coordination between the centre and states for effective implementation of the schemes. The minister appreciated the ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan’ and said that it is unfortunate that students and youth are getting caught in the grip of drugs.
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that about 30 crore people across the country have come above the poverty line in the last decade due to the policies of the Union government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He said that it is a matter of pride for the State that a national level convention on an important topic like social justice is being organised here. Terming the Chintan Shivir as an extension of the thoughts of statesmen such as BR Ambedkar and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, the CM said that the dialogue here will prepare a roadmap for the policies of social empowerment to be adopted in future.
He said that today in the country, on the one hand, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is improving the standard of living of the elderly, widows and disabled people by giving them special pensions, while on the other hand it is providing scholarships to students.
Dhami said that the State government is also working towards bringing the concept of social justice to the ground. Dhami said that the old age pension has been increased, pension is being provided to husbands and wives and pension schemes are being paid on a monthly basis.
He said that scholarships are being provided to the children of scheduled caste and scheduled tribes and 15 hostels, five residential schools and three ITIs are being operated for them. Apart from it monthly scholarship is also being provided to SC, ST students for the preparation of competitive examinations. Dhami added that a grant of Rs 50,000 is given for the marriage of daughters of SC and ST in the State. He said that under the Atal Awas Yojana, the State government is providing a sum of Rs 1.20 lakh to homeless SC families to construct their house. Under the Pradhan Mantri Janjati Unnat Gram Abhiyan, 128 tribal villages of Uttarakhand have been selected. He said that the children involved in begging are being rescued and encouraged to go to school and efforts are being made to connect the youth with self-employment by providing them skill development training.
The Union minister of State (MoS), BL Verma said since the Chintan Shivir is being organised immediately after the end of the financial year it will help in solid implementation of the scheme and better results.
The Union MoS, Ramdas Athawale said everyone should play an important role in providing justice to the deprived sections of the State. The ministers and officers from many States participated in the Chintan Shivir.
