Himachal CM launches Mukhya Mantri 1 Bigha Scheme for strengthening rural economy

Under the scheme, each beneficiary woman will be entitled to get employment under MGNREGS

Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur launched an ambitious scheme Mukhya Mantri 1 Bigha Scheme that envisages strengthening rural economy by linking Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) under which a woman or her family who owns land up to one bigha (or 0.4 hectares) can raise a backyard kitchen garden by growing vegetables and fruits.

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CM said that this scheme would involve about 1.50 lakh womenfolk through 5,000 self-help groups. He said under the scheme each beneficiary woman will be entitled to get employment under MGNREGS, besides training to upscale her skill, grants meant to level the hill land, channelise water, set up a vermicompost pit and to purchase saplings and seeds.

“Corona pandemic has forced the planners to rethink developmental schemes so as to revive the economy particularly in the rural areas,” said Thakur launching scheme through video conferencing. He said that with this objective the government has started ‘Mukhya Mantri 1 Bigha Scheme’ for the revival of economic activity in rural areas

He said that initially about 5,000 households would be covered under this scheme. He said that the concerned panchayats would send the proposal received by it to BDO to include it in the MGNREGA shelf. He said that the main objective of the scheme was to encourage villagers to adopt kitchen gardening by converging MGNREGA and Swachh Bharat Mission. He said that the self-help groups would be motivated to derive benefits from this scheme. He said that all self-help groups who are job cardholders could avail the benefit of ₹1 lakh and about 1.50 lakh women members would be benefitted under this scheme.

Thakur urged the women SHGs to help the state government in effectively fighting Covid-19 pandemic in the state. He said that the women should keep a vigil on persons coming from other parts of the country to their native places so that he does not jump home quarantine. He also urged them to come forward in preparation and distribution of face masks to the needy.

Women SHGs from 80 development blocks of the state participated in the video conferencing.

Rural development and panchayati raj minister Virender Kanwar said that this scheme was bound to transform the rural economy of the state and also help in the economic empowerment of the women at the grassroots level.

Director rural development Lalit Jain said that under this scheme the eligible women would be entitled to get a grant up to ₹40,000 and ₹10,000 for a concrete vermicompost pit.