CM push for welfare projects

Chief minister Hemant Soren at the meeting at Project Building, Ranchi, on Thursday. Telegraph picture

Ranchi, May 22: Chief minister Hemant Soren today held a high-level meeting with ministers and bureaucrats, asking them to expedite and finish projects in a last-ditch attempt to show that his government has also done credible work in the run-up to the state Assembly elections.

The meeting, which started at Project Building around 3.30pm and went on till 7pm, laid special focus on development and welfare projects. A press communiqué issued by the chief minister’s secretariat suggested that Hemant issued directives to ensure more employment opportunities for youths, better medical and education facilities, women empowerment and skill development.

If all decisions taken at the meeting are followed in too, para-teachers, who have been appointed as regular teachers through Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) conducted by the Jharkhand Academic Council, are likely to get their appointment letters from May 25 onwards. A whopping Rs 100 crore has been allocated for revamp of roads before monsoon sets in.

Hemant also directed the commercial taxes department to ensure adequate number of employees manned the newly constructed check posts to stem the irregularities in revenue collection.

Finance minister Rajendra Prasad Singh stressed on better utilisation of funds in the ongoing fiscal.

Speaking to The Telegraph, HRD minister Geetashree Oraon said: “The department is serious about earliest distribution of appointment letters among teachers selected through TET. We are also keen to set up a sports university and fine arts institution in the state capital soon.”

Soon after the budget for the ongoing financial year was passed by the Jharkhand Assembly, the model code of conduct for Lok Sabha polls came into effecting, affecting launch of new projects.

So with just around six months left for the Assembly polls, the dates of which are likely to be announced latest by October, the state government is keen on achieving most of its targets.

Except Haji Hussain Ansari, who is in charge of building construction, minority welfare and co-operative departments, all ministers attended the meeting along with officiating chief secretary Sajal Chakraborty, development commissioner Sudhir Prasad and chief minister’s principal secretary Sukhdev Singh among others.

Acting chief secretary Chakraborty also held a separate meeting at Project Building to discuss the status of preparedness for south-west monsoon. He said that disaster management plans for all 24 districts would be updated.

He asked the disaster management department to strengthen control rooms at the state, division, district and sub-division levels besides instructing information and public relations department to publicise the helplines through newspapers, hoardings and banners.