Villagers in the naxal-affected areas of Chhattisgarh are now getting easy access to basic services including Aadhaar and ration card enrolment at special camps set up by the local administration, officials said Wednesday.
They said a large number of people are coming out of their villages to enroll themselves for different welfare measures.
"As part of an initiative, the district administration is providing all basic facilities to the villagers at one place through convenience camps in remote villages," a statement issued here by the Chhattisgarh information Centre said.
Through this facility, villagers have been facilitated to take benefits of Aadhaar card, ration card, Ayushman card, pension registration etc., said Vinit Nandanwar, the collector of worst naxal-affected Sukma district. He said these camps are receiving a very good response from the locals. "A camp being organised at Silger village has helped 717 villagers to enroll themselves for Aadhaar cards, 287 for ration cards, 100 for Ayushman card and 31 for pension [old age, disability] facility as of now," he said.
He said the villagers have been approaching the local administration seeking more such camps.
"They are happy to come out and get themselves enrolled for different welfare schemes at these camps," said Mr. Nandanwar, a 2013-batch IAS officer.
He said the camps are instilling confidence among the villagers to come out of the villages and to take benefits of government measures.
He said the administration has made arrangements of vehicles and food to facilitate the locals coming to the camp.
In the past, a camp was also organised in Kankerlanka village to make Aadhaar, Ayushman and ration cards of the villagers.
In the coming days, camps will also be organised in other villages, so that more and more rural people of the district can easily get Aadhaar card, Ayushman card, ration card etc. and can take the benefit of various government schemes, Mr. Nandanwar said.
Ritesh Kumar Agrawal, the collector of neighbouring Bijapur, another naxal-hit district, said these integrated development camps are facilitating much-needed welfare measures for these villagers.
"The government has been trying to ensure that the villagers do get benefits of welfare measures meant for them. These integrated development camps help them in taking such benefits," he said.
Mr. Agrawal said, through these camps, the administration was able to make 11,484 new Aadhaar cards while 11,000 Aadhaar cards were updated.
"There has been tremendous response from the villagers towards these camps. We plan to make it a permanent feature by converting these camps to a fixed kiosk or settlement where people can go and get themselves enrolled for different welfare measures," he said.
Mr. Agrawal, a 2012-batch IAS officer, said such camps will ensure that other development avenues like roads, schools and more ration shops reach these areas, usually cut-off from such basic facilities due to different reasons.
