Chief Minister Pema Khandu for eradicating poverty, illiteracy in five years

Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday joined the rest of the country in celebrating the 70th Independence Day with day-long programme.

Unfurling the National Tri-colour here, Chief Minister Pema Khandu said, "Today we have to resolve that within the next five years when independent India turns 75, we will eradicate poverty, illiteracy and unemployment," Khandu said.

"We must pledge that each village and habitation of the state must be connected with roads and every poor family must have a home," he said.

People of Arunachal Pradesh who have seen armed conflicts shared a special relationship with the armed forces, who have stood by us in times of adversity and times of prosperity, Khandu said.

On the priority areas, he said that the government has taken steps to enhance the quality of school education and launched the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Swavalamban Yojana for creating self-employment avenues for unemployed youths.

The government is partnering with reputed skill providers who will set up facilities within the state and help the youth in getting skills and placements, Khandu said.

He said the government is coming out with a clear-cut land policy on land ownership and titling to empower people and farmers to monetise the land which has been passed on to them by way of customary inheritance or acquisition.

In the health sector, the chief minister said, the government had started free chemotherapy facility for cancer patients at Tomo Riba Hospital in collaboration with Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai.

The government has also taken steps for farmer's loan and interest subsidy for women weavers, he said.

By December, all 1230 un-electrified villages in the state would be electrified and the entire state would be declared Open Defecation Free, Khandu said.

On the power sector, he said, the 110 MW Pare hydroelectric project and the 600 WM Kameng project would become operation this year.