Raman Singh eyes bigger victory in 2018 state polls

Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], December 10 (ANI): Presenting a report card of his three consecutive terms in office, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Sunday dubbed his tenure as "14 years of Sushasan" and said that he is eyeing a bigger victory in the 2018 state legislative assembly polls.

"We have won consecutively in 2003, 2008 and 2013 in state legislative assembly polls and also done well in the parliamentary polls and other elections. If we go with our policies in the 2018 elections, I believe that we will win by a greater margin," Singh said while giving a note of his government's achievements over the past 14 years.

The Chhattisgarh Chief Minister also praised the policies of the Centre and said that with the advent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government in 2014, various steps like constitution of Niti Aayog, implementation of recommendations of 14th Finance Commission and the establishment of District Mineral Foundation were taken up.

"The state tax share was increased from 32% to 42% by the 14th Finance Commission, which increased the state budget. Also, District Mineral Foundation (DMF) was established for the development of districts where mining is done so that extra money can be given to that district," Singh said while highlighting that developmental work of around Rs 4,000 crore is being implemented in the state by funds from the DMF.

Singh stated that a strong Public Distribution System (PDS), public procurement, health and education schemes, infrastructure and tribal welfare schemes are the key to the re-election of his government and emphasised that the power sector in the state has seen a major surge and the government is aiming for complete electrification within the next six months.

Clarifying his government's stance on distributing bonuses, Singh said that the financial structure of the state is strong and large percentage of the budget is being utilized for developmental works.

"They say we are taking loans and distributing bonuses, implementing schemes, we want to clarify that the loan share ratio is 14.6% of the total GDP of the state while the average of other states is 23.2%. There is a difference of nearly 10% to other states," Singh noted, adding that the state is far ahead in social sector schemes budget allocation as compared to other states. (ANI)