Chandigarh, March 16: Through the Antyodaya Utthan Melas being organized under the Mukhyamantri Antyodaya Parivar Utthan Yojana, the youth of the state will now be able to become self-reliant by opening Vita booths and Harhith store.

Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that a target has been set to uplift 2 lakh families in the next phase of Antyodaya Melas. He said that under this scheme, special rebates will be given to eligible persons for opening Vita booths at public places like district mini secretariat, hospital, college, university, bus stand, police station, railway station etc.

The Chief Minister was presiding over the meeting of the additional deputy commissioner-cum-citizen resource information department officials held here today.

Counselling for Antyodaya Melas to start at village-level from April 2

Sh. Manohar Lal said that counselling for Antyodaya Utthan Melas will be started from April 2 at village level and cooperation of social organizations in villages will also be taken; so that eligible people can be prepared to get the benefits of the schemes. Apart from this, representatives of private companies will also be included in these fairs.

He said that ‘Mukhyamantri Antyodaya Parivar Utthan Yojana’ is an ambitious and continuous programme whose main objective is to uplift the Antyodaya families. “Its aim is to connect with the common citizens to raise their standard of living. For the success of this programme, necessary arrangements should be made on a large scale; ensuring that it reaches the maximum number of people,” he added. Apart from this, a new scheme will be prepared to promote e-rickshaws, in which loans can also be made available for self-employment.

The Chief Minister said that priority will be given to families with income less than Rs 1 lakh for giving benefits of Antyodaya Parivar Yojana. “If applicants from families with income up to Rs 1 lakh do not come under this scheme, then it should be increased to Rs 1.80 lakh,” he said, adding that the number of Harhith stores should be increased to 5,000 which is 800 at present.

He further said that under the Sanjha Dairy Scheme, teams will be formed at the village level and institutions will be registered. Under this, land will also be arranged on lease for those who do not have land available for building sheds for livestock.

The Chief Minister said that a plan will also be prepared for the people from Antyodaya families, whose CIBIL score is low or banks are not giving them loans. They will be helped through Antyodaya Utthan Melas by finding out the reasons for their low CIBIL score, he said.

Chief Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. DS Dhesi, Additional Chief Secretaries, Sh. TVSN Prasad, Smt. Sumita Misra, Sh. Anurag Rastogi, Sh. Anand Mohan Sharan, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. V. Umashankar, Principal Secretary, Sh. Vijayendra Kumar, Secretary and Commissioner, Smt. Amneet P Kumar, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Dr. Amit Kumar Agrawal, Deputy Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. KM Pandurang, along with senior officers were present in the meeting.