People should make use of the Union government’s schemes, designed for the betterment of every one in the family, said Union Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Pon. Radhakrishnan.
Speaking at ‘Sabka sath sabka vikas’ conference organised at Kappalur to highlight the three-year achievements of the Union government, he listed out various welfare schemes such as Jan Dhan, under which 29 crore bank accounts were opened in the last three years. “The number of bank accounts from Independence to 2014 was only four crores,” he said.
Accident insurance scheme with a premium of just ₹12 and life insurance for ₹ 330 would benefit poor families. This was at a time when even a cup of tea was sold for ₹10. Pension, a privilege enjoyed only by government employees, had come within the reach of those aged between 18 and 40 under Atal Pension Scheme, he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Taking a dig at politicians of the ruling party in the State, he said they were proudly taking photographs with beneficiaries of housing scheme when the funding came from the Centre.
Under Mudra scheme, 9,000 skill development training centres had been opened in the country to impart entrepreneurial training to unemployed youths. So far, seven crore people had been trained and ₹ 4-lakh crore loan distributed. “The prime attraction for the scheme is that collateral is not demanded from the beneficiaries - majority of them happened to be women,” he said.
Earlier, B.L. Meena, Regional Officer, National Highways Authority of India (Tamil Nadu and Puducherry), said 1,300 km of national highways had been laid in the State. “Another 1,300 kms were being laid. The Centre plans to lay an additional 1,800 km of roads in Tamil Nadu in the next two years,” he added.
ADVERTISEMENT
NHAI Project Directors V. Saravanan (Madurai) and Shivaji (Salem) and Bharatiya Janata Party leader R. Srinivasan spoke.