Imphal: Chief Minister N. Biren Singh Monday released a publication titled, “Transforming Manipur, Inclusive Development Under BJP-led Government” in a simple function held at Chief Minister’s Secretariat. It contains a brief account of the various works and initiatives taken up by the Government from 15th March 2017 to 15th November 2021.
Speaking at the occasion, N. Biren Singh claimed the State Government has been successful in bringing all-around development during this time. In the education sector, the Chief Minister informed, 60 schools had been covered under School Fagathansi Mission resulting in 25% rise in students’ enrolment in Government schools. He further said that 237 schools (176 in the valley, 61 in the hills) had been amalgamated to nearby schools having better infrastructure, better connectivity, better student enrolment, etc. for overall improvement, he added.
Eleven government-aided colleges had been converted into full-fledged Government Colleges during 2019-2020, and underfunding from RUSA, Dhanamanjuri University was established in 2018 with five Government colleges as constituent colleges, he said.
Regarding water supply, the Chief Minister said that under the Jal Jeevan Mission, the State Government is committed to providing functional household tap connections to 4.5 lakh households by March 2022. The household coverage of drinking water had increased from 5.7% to 51% within four and half years, he informed.
In the health sector, N. Biren Singh said, under CMHT and Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), 8.09 lakhs beneficiaries had been enrolled and 1.1 lakh beneficiaries had received free treatment worth Rs.123 crores till 29th October 2021.
Under Chief Minister’s Health for All scheme launched on 14th October 2021, door-to-door health screening will be conducted across the State for Primary Health Care and Chronic Disease Management. The primary focus is early identification and diagnosis of non-Communicable diseases (NCD), the Chief Minister said.
Regarding the Agriculture sector, the Chief Minister said Manipur has conferred the prestigious Krishi Karman Award for the highest food grain production in 2017-18. Around 5.82 lakhs farmers are getting Rs. 6,000 per annum under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme (PMKSNY), he added.
Under the Sub Mission of Agriculture Mechanization (SMAM), he added, 971 individual farmers had been provided with subsidies for procurement of 971 Farm Machinery and equipment and 113 group farmers for the establishment of Farm Machinery Bank. In order to increase production and maintain the fertility of the soil, 59,917 soil samples had been tested and 1.25 lakhs Soil Health Card had been distributed, he added.
Under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), 8463 Farmers had benefited from subsidy assistance for setting up Micro Irrigation sets and also created 1372 water harvesting structures to supplement irrigation of 1461 hectares, he said.
The Chief Minister further said that 37,500 hectares had been brought under organic cultivation. During 2014-15, there were only 345 hectares of area under organic farming in Manipur, he said.
One MT of organic black rice Chak-Hao had been exported to Europe this year, he said and added that organic Chak-Hao/Black Rice, Hathei Chilli and Tamenglong orange had bagged Geographical Indication (GI) tags. Over Rs. 67 crore worth of organic products under the brand “Organic Manipur” had been sold so far. Manipur Organic Mission Agency (MOMA) was awarded “Jaivik India Awards-2018”. Organic outlets at Pune and Bengaluru had been opened by MOMA to export and promote organic products of the State in different parts of the country, he added.
Regarding the power sector, the Chief Minister informed that Manipur joined the 400 KV National Grid for the first time with the charging of the 400 KV Silchar-Imphal D/C line at its rated voltage on 25th December 2018. This will ensure 24×7 quality and reliable power supply to all for the next 10/15 years.
Stating that new transmission projects had been taken up in the remotest areas to provide access to grid power, the Chief Minister said that during the last four years, 19 (three 132/33 KV and sixteen 33/11 KV) sub-stations were commissioned and operationalized.
Around 1.3 lakh rural households had been given power connections under various centrally sponsored schemes while 3.5 lakh Pre-paid meters had been installed against a total consumer base of 5.5 lakh consumers. MSPDCL has procured two lakhs prepaid meters and 100% prepaid metering across the State will be completed soon, he added.
Regarding connectivity, the Chief Minister said that helicopter service is now operational and new helipads had been constructed. Pension scheme for retired artistes had been introduced and pension amounts for retired journalists had been hiked besides extending coverage of CMHT to registered journalists and hawkers. The Chief Minister also said that StartUp, StandUp and various other welfare schemes had been introduced to provide financial assistance to hard working youths.
Manipur has created over one lakh jobs in the MSME sector and it is the highest in the whole North East. Annual fish production has increased up to 6 MT and the State Government is putting in best efforts to make it self-sufficient in fish production by introducing Loktak Livelihood Mission and other schemes. The Chief Minister further said that the law and order situation had also witnessed huge improvement in the past four years and eight months. He said that the police team which seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition from Huikap would be rewarded.
