Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections 2023: There are a few months left for the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is presenting the report card of his tenure from different forums. On Monday ( September 18), the Chief Minister attended ‘Jansatta Manthan’, a program of ‘Jansatta’, an enterprise of ‘The Indian Express Group.
In the ‘Jansatta Manthan’ organized in the state capital Raipur, editor Vijay Kumar Jha asked Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel that the Congress has set a target of crossing 75 for itself. The opposition BJP says that the Congress has gradually started following our agenda (Hindutva). The question arises that if Congress has done development, then what is the need to fight elections on the issue of Hindutva?”
In response to this question, the Chief Minister said, “I am from Chhattisgarh, so I should be proud to be a Chhattisgarhi.” In 15 years of rule, they (BJP) made them feel that Chhattisgarhis are the most inferiority complex. But we worked to respect the dialect, food, lifestyle and festival of Chhattisgarh. We declared a holiday for International Tribal Day. … Is this all about Hindutva? This is about the culture of Chhattisgarh.”
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Sanjay Sindhwani, CEO of The Indian Express Online during the welcome address.
Then what is ‘temple construction’ and ‘Ram Van Gaman Path’?
The next question of Vijay Kumar Jha, editor of Jansatta.com, was whether the construction of the temple was being done by the Chhattisgarh government, the Ram Van Gaman Path project, etc. have nothing to do with Hindutva?
In response to this question, the Chief Minister explained the difference between BJP’s Ram and his own Ram. “It is believed that Lord Ram spent the maximum time here (Chattisgarh). We are developing the routes that Lord Ram walked during his exile from the point of view of tourism. At a distance of 15 km from here (Raipur) is the ancient temple of Kaushalya Mata (mother of Rama). It is the only temple (of Kaushalya) in the world. The Bharatiya Janata Party got a chance for 15 years. It is the village of Ramesh Bais (Governor of Maharashtra). But he never paid attention to decorating this temple.But we did. Such as the Rajiv Lochan Temple, the Shri Narayan Temple, the Shabri Mata Temple… There are very ancient temples but no attention was paid to developing them. Now if we have done the work of decorating these temples, then what is wrong in it. You had a chance. But you just kept asking people for votes in the name of Ayodhya temple. You kept asking for votes in the name of cows. But he never served the cow.”
The CM further said, “There are Ram kothis in our village. Never think about this. But we are working. All this is the heritage of Chhattisgarh. Ram works to get votes for them. Their Ram can do the work of getting notes. Our Ram is Vanvasi Ram. Our Ram is Shabari’s Ram. Our Ram is the Ram of the working people. Our Ram is Kaushalya’s Ram. Because Kaushalya is the daughter here, bhancha ram is for us.”
Chhattisgarh government minister Kawasi Lakhma speaking from the platform of Jansatta Manthan
CM explains the difference between Bajrang Dal and Bajrang Bali
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On behalf of the Congress in Karnataka, it was said that if our government comes to power, we will ban Bajrang Dal. Vijay Kumar Jha wanted to know from Bhupesh Baghel what he thinks about this.
“Children remember Bajrang Bali because they want to be strong. Those who are devotees remember Bajrangbali because there is no bigger devotee than him. Knowledgeable people remember Bajrangbali because they also consider him as their ideal. But these Bajrangi (Bajrang Dal) are different from Bajrang Bali. Their job is only to kill, beat and rob. Bajrangbali is different. Bajrang Dal is different. ”
Along with this, the Chief Minister also made it clear that there is no need to ban Bajrang Dal. CM Baghel believes that Bajrang Dal has done as much polarization on religious grounds as it could, it won’t be able to do it now.
“Money is in people’s hands.”
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The Chief Minister claims that the income of farmers has increased under his government. “Our government made farmers stand on their feet,” the CM said from the stage of Jansatta Manthan. From loan waiver, providing electricity at cheaper rates and waiving irrigation tax, steps have been taken. The BJP had promised to implement the Swaminathan Commission report, double the income of farmers, but all that did not happen. Farmers were constantly committing suicide. So we decided to buy paddy crop for Rs. 2500. This brought about a big change in the lives of farmers. Chhattisgarh at present is 40% forest, so there is a lot of forest produce. Earlier, there was no purchase system and/or support price however, people did the work. Regardless of the produce, arrangements were made to purchase it. Earlier, 7 types of minor forest produce were purchased, but now 67 types of minor forest produce are being procured. We are adding value to it. Earlier, tendu leaves were purchased at the rate of Rs. 2500 per standard sack and, it is now bought at the rate of Rs. 4000 per standard sack. Our government has also come up with the Godhan Nyay Yojana. This brought money into people’s hands. Today, there has been a change in the income of the people of Chhattisgarh.”
“One crore people benefited from haat-bazaar clinic scheme”
When Chhattisgarh was formed, 40 percent of the people were below the poverty line. 41 percent of the people were malnourished. More than 15 percent of women aged 47 to 49 years were anemic. For this, we launched the Mukhyamantri Suposhan Yojana. Arranged for food on an empty stomach. Along with this, he also arranged for treatment and started the Haat-Bazar Clinic Scheme. So far, more than one crore people have taken advantage of it.
Sanjay Sindhwani, CEO of The Indian Express Online, giving a memento to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel (PC- Jansatta)
Forest wealth and heritage of art
A panel discussion on ‘Inclusive Growth in Chhattisgarh’ was organized at Jansatta Manthan. Vijay Kumar Jha, editor of Jansatta.com, was responsible for conducting the discussion. The panel included Rakesh Chaturvedi (Chairman, Chhattisgarh State Biodiversity Board), Pradeep Sharma (Advisor, Chhattisgarh CM), Dharamsheel Garhvir (Director, Kanger Valley National Park) and Rahul Kumar Singh (Senior Archaeologist).
Dhammshil Ganvir has described Chhattisgarh as a unique state. “70-80 per cent of the rural population lives in a five-km area of forest. The state has abundant forest wealth and medicines. Talking about the fauna, wild buffaloes in India are found only in Chhattisgarh besides Assam, Bastar Hill Maina is also found only in this state. It is also the state bird of the state.”
From left- Rahul Kumar Singh, Pradeep Sharma, Vijay Kumar Jha, Rakesh Chaturvedi and Dhammshil Ganvir (PC- Jansatta)
Chhattisgarh State Biodiversity Board Chairman Rakesh Chaturvedi said that due to the initiative of Bhupesh Baghel government, the purchase of small forest produce has increased in the state. Chhattisgarh alone accounts for 75 per cent of the total small forest produce procured in the country. Earlier, the rate of mahua in the market used to be 16-17 rupees. The government started buying mahua at Rs 40. Now the rate of mahua in the market has gone up to Rs 50 per kg. When we started purchasing coarse grains. When the support price was given, the area of coarse grains increased. In this way, the government is directly supporting.
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Rahul Kumar Singh highlighted the archaeological wealth of Chhattisgarh. “Chhattisgarh is known for its forests, forest produce and animals and birds as much as it is known for its archaeological wealth. We have a fifth century Buddhist structure at Bhongapal. It is one of the rarest structures in the country. There are many more such structures. Rahul Kumar Singh said that while doing development work, it should be kept in mind whether culture is being taken care of in it or not.
Status of employment and education in Chhattisgarh
In the ‘Jansatta Manthan’, Vice Chancellor of Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University (Bhilai) Dr. MK Verma and Special Secretary of School Education Government of Chhattisgarh Sunil Kumar Jain discussed the education system and employment opportunities of the state. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Jawahar Surisetty, Psychologist and Advisor in the Government of Chhattisgarh.
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From left- Dr. MK Verma, Dr. Jawahar Surisetty and Sunil Kumar Jain (PC- Jansatta)
Dr. MK Verma said that the state is moving forward in the field of school, higher education and technical education. The state government has intensified recruitment. The enrolment rate of students has increased. Sunil Kumar Jain said that the government should focus on the plan to take education to every village instead of centralizing it.
PC- Jansatta