Himachal CM launches Rs 1,500 pension scheme for women at Keylong

Mandi, February 25

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today launched the Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Samman Nidhi Yojana at Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district. Under the first phase of the scheme, Rs 1,500 per month would be paid to all women of Lahaul and Spit aged between 18 and 60 years.

Plan for Lahaul beautification

• All schools in Lahaul and Spiti will remain closed during the winter and the session will be held in the summer, said the Chief Minister.
• He announced the opening of a Block Development Office at Udaipur, Rajiv Gandhi Day Boarding School at Darcha, a sewerage project and a drainage scheme for Keylong
• Sukhu also announced a beautification plan for Lahaul, opening of a public health centre at Tindi and a dispensary of the Animal Husbandry Department at Madgran village

Sukhu, while inaugurating the Lahaul Sharad Utsav, announced that from February 1, Rs 1,500 would be provided to 2.37 lakh women in the state, who were receiving a pension of Rs 1,100. This way, 2.42 lakh women of the state would now receive a pension of Rs 1,500 per month.

“We do what we say. We have come to extend the benefits of various schemes to the last person standing in the queue and lay the foundation of a self-reliant Himachal,” he added.

He said, “The Congress government had inherited empty coffers due to poor fiscal management by the previous BJP government. However, in the past one year, our government has taken various measures under ‘Vyavastha Parivartan’ to improve the fiscal condition of the state. In the first Budget, we laid the foundation of a self-reliant Himachal as we cannot depend on loans. We have found ways to increase the state’s revenue.”

Sukhu laid the foundation stone of 11 development projects worth Rs 70.07 crore. He inaugurated the Command and Control Centre (Animesh-netram) of the Lahaul-Spiti police built at a cost of Rs 1.25 crore. The centre has expanded its CCTV coverage to border areas, including Sumdo, Shinku La and Sarchu, along with other popular tourist destinations in the district. The centre has also received the Skotch Merit of Order Award. A total of 639 cameras have been installed, including 182 o in the past one year.