Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday announced that the state government will request the central government to provide housing to new beneficiaries who have been enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin in the last ten years. If permission is not granted by the central government, the state government will formulate its own plans to provide housing for these new beneficiaries.

The Chief Minister made these statements during a programme held today at his residence office, where he virtually released the third instalment of the Unemployment Allowance Scheme and transferred funds to beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin.

Addressing the programme, Chief Minister emphasized the state government's commitment to maximizing employment and self-employment opportunities for the youth in the state. To achieve this goal, the government is actively recruiting a large number of candidates for government jobs and also providing unemployment allowances to offer financial support to the youth. Furthermore, the government is offering skill development training to equip the youth with the necessary skills for employment and self-employment. Simultaneously, efforts are underway to connect the trained youth with suitable employment opportunities.

Unemployment Allowance Scheme: Rs 31.69 crore to 1.16 lakh beneficiaries

During the programme, the Chief Minister disbursed an amount of Rs 31 crore 69 lakh 60 thousand as the third instalment of the unemployment allowance to the accounts of 1,16,737 beneficiaries under the Unemployment Allowance Scheme. Additionally, he transferred an amount of Rs 151 crore to the accounts of 49,157 beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin.

Combining the three instalments of the unemployment allowance for the months of April and June, a total amount of Rs 80 crore 64 lakh 25 thousand has been disbursed to the beneficiaries' accounts thus far. Today, three months' worth of unemployment allowance was transferred to 1,600 remaining beneficiaries from April, and two months' worth was provided to 6,847 remaining beneficiaries from May.

During the programme, the Chief Minister personally handed out offer letters to 25 trained beneficiaries of the Unemployment Allowance Scheme. Similarly, offer letters were also given at the district level to 738 eligible youths for the unemployment allowance and 810 youths who have received skill development training but are not currently receiving the unemployment allowance.

The Chief Minister further stated that Efforts are underway to connect trained youth with employment opportunities. More than 4,000 youth in the state have received skill development training and have been linked with self-employment or employment within the last three months. Addressing the beneficiaries receiving the unemployment allowance, The Chief Minister said "I would be happy when these youth receiving the allowance are eventually connected to employment. The aim of this scheme is to provide economic stability to the youth."

Encouraging the youth, he said "If they set goals for themselves, they can achieve them. The previous government distributed Rs 98 crore as unemployment allowances over a period of 13-14 years. In just three months, we have disbursed an amount of Rs 80.64 crore as unemployment allowances."

The Chief Minister stated that under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin, the state has approved housing for 11,76,147 beneficiaries. An amount of Rs 5,117 crore has been allocated from the state's funds to fulfil this commitment. The state government is making consistent efforts to provide pucca houses to all those in need. He informed that today, under this scheme, 22,126 beneficiaries were given Rs 55 crore as the first instalment, 12,455 beneficiaries received Rs 55 crore as the second instalment, 7,477 beneficiaries received Rs 31 crore as the third instalment, and 7,099 beneficiaries received an amount of Rs 10 crore as the fourth instalment.

Baghel added that today, under this scheme, a total amount of Rs 151 crore was transferred to the accounts of 49,157 beneficiaries based on the progress of housing construction. He also shared that in the past four and a half years, 3,87,915 housing units have been approved under this scheme.

Chief Minister mentioned that housing beneficiaries have been approved based on the 2011 census, despite the current year being 2023. Over the span of 10 years, numerous new beneficiaries have been included in this scheme. During his state-wide tour as a part of his 'Bhent-Mulakat Abhiyan', many beneficiaries expressed their housing demands. To address the needs of these new beneficiaries, we have started conducting a socio-economic survey since April 1, and data analysis is currently underway.

Using the findings of this survey, the state government will urge the central government to provide housing to these new beneficiaries. In the event that this doesn't happen, the Chhattisgarh government will develop its own plan to provide housing for these beneficiaries. The Chief Minister emphasized the state government's commitment to 'Gadhbo Nava Chhattisgarh', with schemes implemented to benefit all sections of society.

Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare, Umesh Patel, stated that the objective of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel's initiative is to provide financial assistance to the youth and connect them with employment. The goal is to empower the youth to become self-reliant with the help of this financial support given under the scheme.

Additional Chief Secretary Subrat Sahoo provided information about the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin. The funds of this scheme are directly transferred to the beneficiaries accounts. Dr Alok Shukla, Principal Secretary of the Skill Development and Technical Education Department, shared detailed information regarding the progress of the unemployment allowance scheme.

Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare Umesh Patel, former minister and senior legislator Rampukar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary Subrat Sahoo, Principal Secretary of the Skill Development and Technical Education Department Dr Alok Shukla, Secretary of Panchayat and Rural Development Prasanna R., Secretary of Skill Development Shammi Abidi, Director of Employment and Training Awanish Sharan, and Director of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin Rajat Bansal were also present at the programme.