Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday said the accused in cases of rape, molestation and other crimes against women and girls will be barred from government jobs in the state.
Ahead of the state assembly elections due this year-end, Baghel made as many as 15 announcements in his address during the state-level Independence Day function at the Police Parade ground in Raipur.
He announced the inclusion of Chhattisgarhi language and tribal dialects as subjects in primary classes as well as information on artificial intelligence and machine learning in school curriculum, free bus pick up and drop facilities to government college students and the state 'Sahitya Akademi Samman' award for litterateurs.
The chief minister hoisted the tricolour and received a guard of honour from the joint parade of various units of security personnel at the venue.
“It is our top priority to ensure the safety of women, their respect and protect their dignity. We have decided that those accused of molesting girls and women, raping them and other (offences against women) will be banned from government jobs”, Baghel said.
Keeping in view the role of modern technology in building Nava (new) Chhattisgarh, the government will include information about state-of-the-art technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, Internet of Things in the school curriculum from the next academic session, so that children can prepare themselves for future technology, he said.
Baghel said the students of classes 11 and 12 in government schools located in remote areas of Chhattisgarh will be provided free online coaching from renowned institutes of the country for the preparation of medical and engineering competitive exams.
For the purpose, online coaching class facilities will be set up in all development blocks of the state, he said.
He also said students of government colleges will be provided free bus pick up and drop facilities between their homes and colleges.
“The identity of Chhattisgarh is from its Chhattisgarhi language. From the next academic session, Chhattisgarhi language will be included as a subject in school curriculum from classes 1 to 5 in those areas where the language is spoken. Similarly, local dialects of tribal areas will be included as a subject in the school curriculum from classes 1 to 5 in the respective areas," he said.
The state government has also decided to provide the facility of post-graduate courses in at least one college in all districts of the state, he said.
Baghel announced that litterateurs will be honoured with the 'Chhattisgarh Sahitya Akademi Samman' in three categories.
The first category will cover literature written in Chhattisgarhi and other dialects like Gondi, Halbi, Sargujia, Kurukh etc, while the second one will cater to poetry written in Hindi. The honour in the third category will be for prose written in Hindi, he said.
In all the categories, the recipients will be felicitated with Rs 5 lakh cash and a citation, he added.
CM Baghel also announced to launch 'Mukhyamantri Nirman Shramik Pension Sahayata Yojana' to provide pension to construction workers.
He said the construction workers who have completed 60 years of age and have been registered for 10 years will be given a monthly pension of Rs 1,500 for the rest of their lives.
In view of the considerable response to fish farming and lac farming after giving them the status of agriculture activity, silkworm farming and beekeeping will also be considered as agriculture activities, he said.
He also announced to roll out the 'Chhattisgarh Poultry Farming Promotion Scheme', aimed at encouraging poultry farming and creating new jobs and self-employment opportunities.
The CM also said the athletes who secure 1st position in the age group of 18 to 40 years in long jump, 100 metres race and wrestling under the state-level Chhattisgarhiya Olympics event will be declared as outstanding players.
He also announced to increase the honorarium of 'Swachchta Didi' (women sanitation workers) by 20 per cent.
A similar hike of 20 per cent will be made in the honorarium of community organisers working in the field of urban livelihood, he added.
Baghel also announced a salary hike for contractual training officers in the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) from Rs 25,780 per month to Rs 32,740 per month, while payments given to guest lecturers will be increased from Rs 13,000 per month to Rs 15,000 per month.
The honorarium of part-time sanitation workers associated with the education sector and cooks engaged in the mid-day meal programme will be increased by Rs 500, he said.
Highlighting the achievements of his government, Baghel said that along with judicious use of precious mineral resources in the interest of the state, the state government has been discovering new mineral deposits.
"We have taken a step forward in the direction of diamond mining. The process of initiating prospecting in about 157 square kilometres of Baloda-Belmundi diamond block in Saraipali tehsil of Mahasamund district is in progress," he said.
Later talking to reporters, Baghel said the decision to bar the accused in cases of molestation, rape and other crimes against women from government jobs in Chhattisgarh is an important step towards social and women's security.
Asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech decrying nepotism, Baghel said, "Today is the Independence Day. We had not expected the PM to say such things."
“If he is saying so then all those people in his party from such backgrounds, be it Scindia, Jitin Prasada, Rajnath Singh's son, Amit Shah's son, Raman Singh's son or Baliram Kashyap's son, should be removed from their posts. They should not be given any responsibility,” he said.
The occasion of August 15 should not be used as a political opportunity, the CM said.
On PM Modi's remark that on August 15 next year he will present a report card (of development), Baghel said he (Modi) will hoist the flag at the party's (BJP) office on Ashok Road in New Delhi.
Asked about the Manipur issue, Baghel claimed the "basic character of the BJP is of hatred and violence".
"When such (Manipur) kind of violent incidents happen, then they feel good. People now know it," he further claimed.
