CM, Shinde sought as witnesses
Almost four years after the deadly Maoist attack at Jhiram in Bastar, the Opposition Congress has filed a plea with the judicial commission probing the attack to summon Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, former Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and former state home minister Nanki Ram Kanwar as witnesses.
Twenty-seven persons, including prominent Congress leaders, were killed at Jhiram when armed Naxals attacked a Congress motorcade on its way to Jagdalpur after the party’s Parivartan Yatra rally in May 2013 in Sukma district. The probe is being done by sitting High Court judge Prashant Mishra.
Compensation to hailstorm-hit farmers
Believing that farmer-centric initiatives yield electoral dividends, the Raman Singh government was quick to address the concerns of farmers during a Cabinet meeting to review losses suffered by the farming community in recent hailstorms in different parts of the state. In an election year, no ruling party would wish for rural disquiet to grow.
The chief minister directed officials to carry out a survey of the damaged crops and distribute compensation to the farmers at the earliest. Singh recalled the benefits and facilities given by his government to farmers in the past 14 years, from irrigation pumps to free power and minimum support prices.
Good news on sex ratio
Chhattisgarh is happy with a recent report of NITI Aayog that ranks the state second, behind Kerala, in terms of the male-female sex ratio at birth. The health department has released figures claiming that the ratio in Chhattisgarh was 1,000:972 in 2005-06 in the National Family Health Survey-3, which gradually increased to 1,000:977 (at the time of birth) in 2015-16. Referring to NITI Aayog’s findings, state officials said that the sex ratio in Chhattisgarh during 2011-13 was 1,000:961, while in Kerala it was 1,000:967.
Nari Shakti award for One-Stop Centre
Raipur-based One-Stop Centre, which provides support and assistance to women affected by violence, will be given the Nari Shakti Puraskar by the President of India on March 8, the International Women’s Day. The award carries a certificate and cash prize of Rs 1 lakh. The Ministry of Women and Child Development has set up 151 such centres for women affected by violence. The Raipur centre, inaugurated in 2015, happens to be the India’s first One-Stop Centre. It provides emotional, psychological and legal counselling to the affected women under one roof.
Ejaz Kaiser
Our correspondent in Chhattisgarh
ejaz@newindianexpress.com