Union Minister for Rural Development Giriraj Singh maintained that only when the women were empowered the nation would prosper- and for this one important step would be to strengthen the women Self Help Groups (SHGs) which was a step forward for making them Atmanirbhar.
The Union Minister arrived in the city this morning from Guwahati and the chaired a meeting along with Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma and high officials to review various centrally-sponsored projects at the State Guest House.
Singh reviewed the schemes like Jal Jeevan Mission, PMGSY, Watershed Management, Panchayat and Rural Development, ASRLM, PMAY-G, MGNREGA, Shyama Prashad Mukherjee RURBAN Mission.
He however stressed on one particular point – empowerment of women
The Union Minister passed an instruction to the concerned department for working with a one-year plan to strengthen the women Self Help Groups economically and make them Atmanirbhar, according to a government press release.
He also directed the officials concerned for speedy completion of the ongoing works for construction of the houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Gramin.
Taking part in the meeting, the Chief Minister asked the officials to work on mission mode to complete the distribution of houses under PMAY-G at the earliest.
He also stressed on the arrangement of loans for the SHGs in a simplified manner to make them financially strong and Atmanirbhar.
Later, in a social media post, the Chief Minister wrote that the Union Minister hailed the efforts taken by the Tripura government for the development of the rural areas.
Singh was received by MLA Rampada Jamatia, TIDC chairman Tinku Roy, Secretary, Rural Development- Saumya Gupta and District Magistrate, West- Debapriya Bardhan at Maharaja Bir Bikram airport, Agartala. Singh also had a courtesy meet with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the airport.
Later speaking to the media, Singh said that the Narendra Modi-led government was working for an overall development of Tripura amongst the North Eastern states with highest priority.The members of the Union Cabinet are also making sincere efforts for proper implementation of welfare schemes in the North East region, he said.
In the meantime, Singh is scheduled to take part in an interaction programme with the Self Help Group members at Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan in the city on Sunday. According to official sources, a good number of SHG members would participate in the programme, displaying their products including handloom, bamboo-made items.