Chandigarh, May 24: Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal, while addressing a large gathering during the Maharishi Kashyap Jayanti celebrations organized in Karnal, made several important announcements for the Kashyap community.

The Chief Minister announced that the birth anniversary of Maharishi Kashyap would be included in the list of restricted holidays. Besides this, a Chair in the name of Maharishi Kashyap Chair will be set up in Kurukshetra University for doing research on the life history of Maharishi Kashyap, for which an amount of 15 lakh will be given to the University this year, he announced.

Sh. Manohar Lal further announced that the Chowk in Karnal Sector 14 and Jundla Government College would be named after Maharishi Kashyap.

Addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister said that Maharishi Kashyap's birth anniversary would be celebrated every year by organizing similar state level functions and an Antyodaya Kaushal Rozgar Kendra would also be opened in his name. Apart from this, he also announced to give a grant of Rs 44 lakh for the construction of four Dharamshalas of Kashyap Community at Karnal, Kurukshetra, Bilaspur and Safidon.

The Chief Minister said that for the upliftment of the weaker sections and ensuring the overall development of every citizen, an Antyodaya Skill Development Center would be opened in every district so that the skilled persons can be trained and more employment opportunities can be provided to them.

Like never before, people in large number attended this state-level function and as the Chief Minister made several announcements Karnal resonated with applause.

Inspirational personality of Maharishi Kashyap will always guide mankind

Sh. Manohar Lal said that it is a matter of great pride for him to participate in this grand event in the city of  Daanveer Karan. Muniraj Kashyap was a great philanthropist and Prajapalak and he composed great scriptures like Smriti Granth and Kashyap Samhita to give a new direction to the society. The inspirational personality of such a great sage will always guide mankind, he added.

Sh. Manohar Lal said that the history of Kashyap society has always been glorious since ancient times. This society gave powerful kings like Nishad during the Ramayana yuga. It was King Nishad who had given shelter to Lord Shri Ramchandra ji during his exile. Great Devotee Prahlad too belonged to this Community.

This Community, a descendant of Maharishi Kashyap, is considered to be a society of bravery and camaraderie. This community has played a very commendable role in the freedom movement. The people of this society are courageous, brave, hardworking and self-respecting and have immense capabilities. Apart from ensuring the well being of their own community, this community also plays a constructive role in the development of the entire society, said Sh. Manohar Lal.

Through 'Sant-Mahapurush Samman Vichar Prasar Yojana', State Government leaving no stone unturned for ensuring to preach the message of great men in the society, said Manohar Lal.

The Chief Minister said that the present Government has taken initiative to celebrate the anniversaries of great men at the state level.

“Our sants-mahatmas, gurus and great men are not only our invaluable heritage but also our inspiration. The teachings of such great personalities are the heritage of the entire human society. We all have the responsibility to preserve and save his legacy,” said Sh. Manohar Lal.

Apart from Maharishi Kashyap, the birth anniversary of Kabir Das ji, Maharishi Valmiki, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar and Guru Ravidas ji etc. is being celebrated at the state level. The Chief Minister said that Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi  decided to celebrate 400th Parkash Purab of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur ji across the country under 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'. Recently, a state level function was organized in Panipat on April 24, 2022.

Similarly, Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi has decided to observe December 26 every year as 'Veer Bal Diwas', the martyrdom day of the tenth Patshahi Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji's Sahabzadas Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh.

State-level events were also organized in the state on the occasion of the 550th Parkash Purab of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji and the 350th Parkash Purab of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji. We have taken the initiative to celebrate the birth anniversary of the immortal freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as 'Parakram Diwas'.

“In order to realize the message of equality given by the great men, several schemes have been formulated by the present state government aimed to raise the standard of living of the poorest of the poor”, said Sh. Manohar Lal.

Upliftment of poor families under Mission Antyodaya

Sh. Manohar Lal said that while following the principles of 'Antyodaya', the present State Government is financially empowering the poorest of the poor families. The State Government is committed for the Social, Educational and Economic Upliftment of all sections.

“We are celebrating this year as 'Antyodaya Utthan Varsh' and for this, the ‘Mukhyamantri Antyodaya Parivar Utthan' scheme has been started. Under this, the poorest families will be identified and their annual income will be increased to at least Rs 1.80 lakh”, said Sh. Manohar Lal.

Sh. Manohar Lal further announced that so far, about 2.49 lakh families having annual income less than Rs. 1 lakh have been identified under this scheme. Under the scheme, 570 Antyodaya Melas were organized at 156 places in two phases, in which 1.22 lakh families participated. Now the third phase of the same is going on.

The Chief Minister said that the State Government aims to provide benefits of all government services and schemes to the citizens while sitting at home and they do not have to make rounds of offices. For this, Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) of all families is being made. With this single document, the benefits of all the schemes and services are now available to the eligible persons while sitting at home. Most of the schemes and services are now linked to the PPP portal.

“This year, benefits of most of the government services will start online through PPP. Now the birth and death data will also be auto-updated. Data on Education, Skill and Unemployment has also been uploaded on this portal. We are also going to do the work of making ration cards through PPP. Initially, this scheme has been started in district Sirsa and Kurukshetra on pilot basis,” said Sh. Manohar Lal.

Under this new Ration card system, the colour category of ration cards will also change automatically when there is a change in the income of the beneficiary. If a person attains the prescribed age for old age pension, then he will not have to make rounds of government offices to get his pension, as his pension will start automatically through PPP, said the Chief Minister.

Ayushman Bharat scheme to provide free medical services to the poor

The Chief Minister said that in order to provide free medical services to the poor in the state, golden cards of more than 28 lakh persons have been made under the 'Ayushman Bharat Yojana'. Poor families can get themselves treated in 631 empanelled hospitals. An amount of Rs. 434 crore has been reimbursed for this. Free tests and medicines are being given to the poor even in government hospitals, he added.

To achieve the goal of 'Sabko Shiksha', a provision has been made to provide free books, uniforms and stationery material to the students of poor families till class XIIth. Not only this, free coaching is being provided to them to prepare for various competitive and entrance exams. Besides this, many scholarships are also being given. Under the 'Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana', free food grains are being given to the poor every month till September 2022. The survey of homeless people whose income is less than Rs 1.80 lakh per annum is being started, informed, Sh. Manohar Lal.

The welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes

The Chief Minister said that the students belonging to Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes are getting annual scholarships ranging from Rs 8000 to Rs 12000 for higher education after matriculation under the Dr. Ambedkar Medhavi Chhattar Yojna. Under the Post Matric Scholarship, scholarships ranging from Rs 230 to Rs 1200 per month are provided to Scheduled Caste students studying in post-matriculation classes. In addition, all non-refundable fees are reimbursed.

The State Government is continuously working to raise the standard of living of the last person standing in the row. Not only this, every penny from the government's treasury is being transferred to the poor by using e-governance, said Sh. Manohar Lal.

Historic moment for the city of Danveer Karna: Sanjay Bhatia

Karnal MP, Sh. Sanjay Bhatia said that organizing a state-level function to celebrate the birth anniversary of Maharishi Kashyap Jayanti in Karnal is a historic moment for the city of Danveer Karna.

“We are all the children of Maharishi Kashyap. Those who indulge in politics have divided us in the name of religion, caste, and creed. We were divided when Babur, who had invaded the country with his army of 12,000 soldiers. The British had come as merchants but ruled here,” he said.

Sh. Sanjay Bhatia said that Martyrs and Gurus fought and made the supreme sacrifices of their lives to get freedom. He said that in the coming years too, this grand programme being organized today would be celebrated in the same way.

Later, Indri MLA, Sh. Ram Kumar Kashyap said that we should inculcate culture in children along with imparting education to them. Children have to be trained so that they become job givers, not job seekers, he added.

On this occasion, Ambala MP, Sh. Rattan Lal Kataria, Kurukshetra MP, Sh. Nayab Singh Saini, Deputy Speaker, Sh. Ranbir Gangwa, Gharaunda MLA, Sh.  Harvinder Kalyan, Panipat Rural MLA. Sh.  Mahipal Dhanda, Panipat Urban MLA, Sh. Parmod Vij, MLA, Sh. Ram Niwas, Mayor, Smt. Renu Bala Gupta, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Dr. Amit Agrawal, Political Advisor to the Chief Minister, Sh. Krishna Bedi and other political dignitaries also remained present on this occasion.