Chief minister Raghubar Das on Sunday laid the foundation stone of road projects worth over Rs 176 crore in rebel-hit Dumaria block under Ghatshila subdivision of East Singhbhum, around 75km from Jamshedpur.
In all, there are six road projects and one bridge, all jointly funded, with the Centre paying for the bridge and the state paying for the rest. The deadlines for these are between one and two years, and tenders are expected to be floated soon.
Das, who reached Dumaria by a state chopper in the afternoon, also inaugurated school infrastructure and interacted personally with villagers during a gram chaupal (village gathering).
Six road projects of road construction department were laid at Bhagabandi, a remote village at Khadidah panchayat of Dumaria block. These road projects will facilitate connectivity to 29 villages, including those still known as Naxalite strongholds such as Lango, Harina and Bhagabandi. The roads will also establish direct link between Dumaria and Potka blocks with Odisha.
The 344-metre bridge worth around Rs 12 crore, to be laid over river Subernarekha, will link Dalbhumgarh with Bhalki and Singhapura villages in Ghurabandha under the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) scheme.
The chief minister also inaugurated 21 smart classrooms and two science centres at Bhagabandi village under the special central assistance scheme. Each smart class in 21 schools has multimedia, audio-video facility and projectors.
Later, addressing villagers at the gram chaupal at Bhagabandi Haat Maidan, the chief minister promised all villages would get electricity connection by this year-end. “We are trying to ensure every village in Jharkhand gets electricity by year-end,” he said.
The chief minister also promised to weed out the Naxalite problem. He warned rebels to desist from creating hindrances to progress and join the mainstream. He assured the villagers that the BJP-led government at the Centre and state was doing a good job to uplift the poor.
Villagers also spoke up ab-out their problems related to old age-pension, lack of medical facilities and lack of roads. The chief minister gave villagers a patient hearing and also inst-ructed administrative officials present to follow up on them.
Golden cards
Lohardaga: Union minister of state for tribal affairs Sudarshan Bhagat on Sunday distributed Ayushman Bharat golden cards and a letter signed by PM Narendra Modi to beneficiaries of the scheme at a function held at Town Hall here on Sunday.
