category Regional, chandigarh, , tags Regional, chandigarh, , DW BUREAU Chandigarh Chief Minister Manohar Lal said that the aim of the state government is only public service and in the last eight and a-half-years, many public welfare works have been done by bringing radical changes in the system. The Chief Minister while addressing a programme in Delhi on Friday late night, was giving information about the public welfare policies of the government. The 2.45 crore population of the state is our family and taking care of them is our topmost priority. We are experimenters and have learned this quality from Prime Minister Narendra Modi; that one should never hold back from doing any new experiment, he added. He said that implementation of the e-tendering system in Panchayati Raj institutions will give long-term benefits and it has also garnered appreciation from the public during the recent visit to Bhiwani. He said that the state government has made Parivar Pehchan Patra, through which the data of every family and its members is available with the government. The real meaning of PPP is Protection of Poor People. We are working for the welfare of the poor and needy, he added. Taking a dig at the opposition Manohar Lal said that the previous governments used to come up with schemes, but instead of those who were the real beneficiaries; influential persons used to take the benefits of such schemes. But the present state government is providing benefits of every scheme to the eligible beneficiaries, he said. He further said that the opposition should not do petty politics with such catchy slogans and promises. Although the central government has formed a committee on the new pension scheme to study it. The Chief Minister said that during the 10-year tenure of the Congress government, only Rs 1,000 crore compensation was given to the farmers; while in the year 2015, our government gave compensation of about Rs 1,200 crores. He said that in the Congress government, compensation was given at the rate of Rs 7,000 per acre and in the year 2014, it was made Rs 10,000 per acre but was not paid. After our government came to power, the rate of Rs 12,000 per acre was fixed, he added. The Chief Minister said that this time also in the months of February and March, unseasonal rains and hailstorm caused damage to the crops. After evaluating all the things, efforts are made to make up for the damage. The state government is standing shoulder to shoulder with the farmers, but the opposition will always keep talking against the government, he said. Responding to the opposition s statement that unemployment is high in Haryana, the Chief Minister said that today, the opposition has nothing worth mentioning. The opposition has become issueless. That s why they keep talking wrong. The opposition keeps talking about the unemployment statistics of the CMIE organization. It is a private organization, which sometimes shows 24, sometimes 34 and sometimes 27 percent unemployment. Their figures cannot be trusted, he said. He said that there is data of each family on the Parivar Pehchan Patra and those who are unemployed have self-declared this data. According to this, there is about six percent unemployment in the state. To reduce the unemployment rate, continuous employment opportunities are being provided by the government, he added. Based on the Parivar Pehchan Patra data, the Chief Minister said that there are more than 3,000 persons in the age group of 80 years or above who are living alone. The government has decided to take care of these people in old age homes by paying the full expenses and also by setting up an ashram for them; where basic facilities including food and health will be taken care of, he added. (editor dailyworld.in)