Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren on Wednesday re-launched an old government scheme named after his grandfather Sona Sobran to provide dhotis, saris and lungis at Rs 10 to poor families in the state.

The scheme was launched in 2014 when Soren was the chief minister for a brief tenure but was discontinued by the Raghubar Das-led BJP government in 2015.

“The scheme has been named Sona Sobran Dhoti Saree Lungi Scheme and will cover nearly 58 lakh below poverty line ration card holder beneficiaries across Jharkhand. The government has sanctioned Rs 500 crore for this scheme. Beneficiaries will receive dhoti, saris and lungis twice a year for Rs 10 from ration shops along with food grains,” Soren told the gathering at the function in Dumka after laying foundation stones of projects worth over Rs 230 crore and inaugurated 18 projects worth over Rs 37.92 crore.

Soren stressed that after managing to curb Covid cases, the government is now going full throttle on initiating development schemes.

“For over a year the entire world has been battling the Covid pandemic and a state like Jharkhand with limited resources has managed to cope with the crisis through better management and cooperation of masses. However, we need to be cautious as we continue the unlock process and march towards normalising life. The government will go all out to initiate development schemes and create job opportunities and fulfil the promises made to the masses. We have made our intention clear by conducting the Jharkhand Public Service Commission exams recently, which was held after a span of more than five years, and will open gates of employment. We would also like youths to seek employment in other sectors too like animal husbandry, pisciculture and poultry,” he said.

He announced that the government will soon open English-medium schools of excellence in all the districts which will be functional from next academic session along with Hindi schools and also promote sports infrastructure at the block level to nurture and promote sporting talent.

Soren also encouraged tribal and Scheduled Caste entrepreneurs to set up industries.

“We have launched the new industrial policy with a slew of incentives for tribal and Scheduled Caste industrialists and would like them to avail benefits,” said Soren.

The chief minister also advised officials to arrange an awareness campaign about government welfare schemes at the village level so that people can avail their benefits.

Earlier, finance minister Rameshwar Oraon, who also holds the portfolio of public food supplies, said that the financial condition was not good due to the central government’s step-motherly treatment by deducting pending dues of the Damodar Valley Corporation from Jharkhand’s account but not making any efforts to clear the pending amount owed by public sector units to the state government.

“Despite such constraints, we are committed to fulfil our poll promises and the initiation of this scheme is a part of this effort,” said Oraon.

The function was also attended by JMM supremo and Rajya Sabha MP Shibu Soren.