Dehradun: Vice President of the Social Welfare Schemes Monitoring Committee and Minister of State, Deshraj Karnawal, conducted a comprehensive review of the welfare schemes under implementation in Dehradun district during a meeting held at the Vikas Bhawan auditorium on Friday. He instructed officials to adopt a mission-mode approach to ensure that the benefits of social welfare schemes reach every eligible individual.
Karnawal highlighted that 200 Ambedkar Camps are being organized across 95 blocks, as well as in all municipal corporations and municipalities, with the objective of connecting eligible individuals with government welfare programs. He stated that these camps are a crucial step toward bringing the schemes to grassroots levels.
During the review, he also engaged with officials to understand the on-ground challenges faced in the implementation process and assured swift action to resolve them. He said, “It was the vision of Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay that development must reach the last person in society. The Modi-Dhami governments are working to realize this vision.”
The Minister of State stressed the importance of raising awareness at the Gram Panchayat level. He directed that Assistant Social Welfare Officers should actively participate in Gram Sabha meetings to inform villagers about available schemes. He also called for strengthened inter-departmental coordination to ensure timely delivery of benefits.
Expressing concern over the low distribution of scholarships, Karnawal pointed out that only 3,000 out of 4.17 lakh students from Classes 1 to 12 have received scholarships in the district. Terming this as a serious issue, he ordered increased publicity, simplification of the application process, and installation of hoardings to ensure no eligible student is left out.
Following the meeting, Karnawal visited the Government Ashram Paddhati Vidyalaya in Bhagat Singh Colony to inspect the residential facilities and assess the arrangements.
District Social Welfare Officer Deepankar Ghildiyal provided an overview of the beneficiaries in the district, stating that 73,344 individuals receive old age pensions, 11,301 are under the disabled pension scheme, 1,178 benefit from the disabled maintenance grant, and 708 from the farmer pension scheme. He added that other schemes such as the marriage grant, scholarships, Atal Awas Yojana, and hostel operations are also actively benefiting the public.
The review meeting was attended by Chief Development Officer Abhinav Shah, Joint Magistrate Harshita Singh, SDM Hari Giri, and officials from various departments.
