Chief minister Raman Singh: Development parameters hint at Chhattisgarh’s growth in 14 years

RAIPUR: Asserting that Chhattisgarh is among the best financially managed state, chief minister Raman Singh on Sunday said that all development parameters indicate the state’s positive growth during the last 14 years. Now, the government is focussing on spreading communication infrastructure and network even to the remotest areas so that awareness about the schemes could reach across the state.
Talking to the reporters here on completion of 14 years of his tenure, he disagreed with the perception that state’s schemes such as disbursement of bonus to farmers and tendu leaves collectors would have an adverse effect on the economy.
Chhattisgarh loan share against GDP is 14.6 per cent as against the average of 23.2 of other states, he added.
Pointing out that 22.7 per cent of budget is being spent on development works in the state which is about 10 per cent higher than the national average, chief minister said adding that state’s social sector spending is also high as compared to the other states.
We spend 15.8 per cent of GDP on social sector while its average is just about 7.9 per cent in other states, he added.
Asked about the top three achievements of his government during the last 14 years, Singh said that the introduction of reforms in public distribution system (PDS) and food security to all, initiatives taken for tribal welfare, health insurance scheme for the public and giant leap in infrastructure development have given me more satisfaction, he added.
Referring to the recent CRISIL report that classified Chhattisgarh as a fast developing state, the chief minister said that most three important elements of land, water and power is available in the state.
He said Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev is coming to Raipur soon to sign an MOU with the state government for setting up a mega food park.

About the other proposed initiatives, Singh said that the state is all set to launch a Sky Yojana to develop communication network in the remote areas where there is no mobile connectivity.
We are all set to distribute nearly 55 lakh smart phones which will have inbuilt features and applications through which details about all central and state government schemes could be downloaded he said adding that developing this network through installing mobile towers and laying of optical fibre network would help strengthen connectivity throughout the state.
Singh said that the state has benefited most after the Modi government came to power at the Centre.
As compared to the previous elections, presence of same party government at Centre and state would have a positive impact in the 2018 elections, he said. Opposition’s performance has been good over the last 14 years and if they continued with such a performance, we will retain power for the fourth consecutive time, he added.