DW BUREAU / Shimla Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur while interacting with the beneficiaries of various schemes of Seraj Vidhan Sabha area through video conferencing said that the State Government has started several schemes for social economic upliftment of the poor and downtrodden of the State. He said that the endeavour of the State Government was to ensure that the benefits of policies and programmes of the State Government reaches the person living at the lowest ebb. Jai Ram Thakur said that it was for the first time that the State Government has set a target of construction of 10,000 houses in the State under different housing schemes. He said that Chief Ministers Relief Fund has proved a boon for the poor people of the State. Jai Ram Thakur said that the State Government has also launched Himachal Grihini Suvidha Yojna to save womenfolk from indoor pollution. He said that under this Scheme, free LPG connections were being provided to the families left out from Ujjawala scheme started by the Central Government. He said that till date over 2.78 lakh free gas connections have been provided to the eligible families and Himachal Pradesh has become first smoke free State of the Country. Chief Minister said that State Rural Development Department has started several schemes aimed at the development of rural areas during the present tenure of the State Government. He said that Mukhiya Mantri Ek Bigha Yojna has proved a big success as about 5000 families have registered themselves to avail the benefits of the Scheme. Jai RamThakur said that Central Government has always been considerate towards the welfare of the farming community. He said that about 9,12,078 farmers of the State have been benefitted under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana. He said that an amount of Rs 977.77 crore have been disbursed to eligible farmers of the State. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has releasing another instalment of over Rs.17,000 crores into the bank accounts of 8.5 crore farmers of the country under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana which would go a long way in empowering the farming community. He said that lakhs of farmers would be provided another instalment of Rs. 2000 each under this scheme. Chief Minister said that the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown thereafter has resulted in cumulative losses of about Rs. 15.77 crore to floriculturists of the State during the month of March to May, 2020 due to non-transportation of flowers. He said that keeping this in view, the State Government has decided to provide financial assistance/relief amount worth Rs. 4 crore to the affected floriculturists. (editor@dailyworld.in)