Serving the poor in spirit of Antyodaya is our aim: Hry CM

Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal while speaking at the State Level Annapurna Utsav organised in Panchkula on Thursday said that the present State Government is committed to ensuring the welfare of the poor.

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh also attended the function as the Chief Guest through video conferencing. Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala and Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker Gian Chand Gupta were also present in the programme.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that serving the very needy in the spirit of Antyodaya is the utmost aim of the State Government. Today's Annapurna Utsav is a very auspicious programme, he added.

The Chief Minister said that ensuring no one sleeps on an empty stomach is the priority of the State Government and for this, 5 kg wheat is being given free of cost to every member of the eligible poor families during the Annapurna Utsav started under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.

During this Annapurna Utsav, on August 18 and 19, ration has been distributed through more than 10,000 depots across the state. The word Utsav was added to this programme to lift up the spirit of the society that is suffering from the state of depression created due to the COVID pandemic, said Manohar Lal.

He said that even during the COVID-19 pandemic, free ration facility was arranged for the poor eligible families till November last year during the first wave of COVID-19. Due to the second wave of this pandemic, the free ration will be given till November this year also.

Manohar Lal said that the government has also made a plan to provide monthly financial benefits and education to children orphaned due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under Ayushman Yojana also 2.87 lakh patients got benefits. An amount of Rs 351 crore was spent by the government on this.