Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has assured that his government would take firm steps to remove the belt shops in the State.
Addressing an interactive session with women of self-help groups here today, the Chief Minister clarified that the belt shops were not officially permitted. Stating that the government understood the problems faced by women, the Chief Minister assured that they would be totally removed.
The Chief Minister said a mass campaign for construction toilet in every house would be launched and within two years every house would have a toilet. He said the Centre would give an assistance of Rs 10,000 for the construction of individual toilets.
Referring to the recently introduced “Bangaru Thalli” scheme, the Chief Minister said soon it would be legalized through legislation in the Assembly, as was done in the case of the SC, ST sub-plan. Stating that “Bangaru Thalli” scheme was not an ordinary scheme, Kiran said steps would be taken to ensure that it would be given the legal strength so that the successive governments implement the scheme compulsorily.
The Chief Minister told the women at the interactive session to feel that birth of a girl child was a boon and ensure that the child was provided with good education. He said it was the aim of his government that the girl child should be well taken care of.
The Chief Minister said his government was introducing novel schemes for the welfare of the people. Citing the SC, ST sub-plan, he explained how these sections would be benefitted through it. He also said that Rs 268 payable by residents of SC, ST colonies using less than 50 units of electricity would be waived. He also mentioned about steps being taken for encouragement of post-matric education among these sections.
He said the amount being sanctioned for buying land for the poor was enhanced from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakhs. He also said Rs 1,150 crores was set apart for providing self-employment to 2.60 lakh SCs and STs. The Chief Minister said his government was planning to increase the number of commodities being distributed under the ‘Amma Hastam scheme. Stating that nine commodities were being provided under the scheme, the CM said the government proposed to provide 10 more commodities.
Earlier, Union Rural Dvelopment Minister Jairam Ramesh stressed the need for removing the menacing belt shops. He asked the women and elicited their views on different schemes being implemented in the State.
State ministers Pitani Satyanarayana, Vatti Vasanta Kumar, MPs K Bapiraju, Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, MLAs Kothapalli Subbarayidu, Chintamaneni Prabhakar, K. Nageswara Rao, Eli Nani, Bangaru Usha Rani, district Collector Vani Mohan and others participated in the program. . (NSS)
