Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], August 3 (ANI): Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Sunday attended the Rakshabandhan Celebration 2025 organised at Harbans Kapoor Memorial Community Hall, Garhi Cantt, Dehradun in the presence of Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

The Chief Minister said that he is present in the service of mothers and sisters, not as a Chief Minister, but as a brother. He appealed that if any sister or daughter of the state has any problem, they should directly contact the Chief Minister's office.

The Chief Minister will try to take cognisance of the issues of mothers and sisters himself and resolve them and fulfil the duty of being a brother.

The Chief Minister said that we are going to start the 'Jal Sakhi Yojana' soon to increase the livelihood of rural women. Along with this, preparations are also being made to hand over the work of drinking water supply in rural areas to women's self-help groups. The work of establishing new connections, distributing bills, recovering bills, and maintaining schemes in rural areas will also be outsourced to women's groups. These are not just schemes, but it is my responsibility and love towards the sisters.

While extending advanced greetings and best wishes of Rakshabandhan to the mothers and sisters present in large numbers from across the state at the Rakshabandhan ceremony, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed his gratitude to all the people of Uttarakhand for their extensive support in the Panchayat elections.

The Chief Minister said that with the love and blessings of the mother power of Uttarakhand, he is getting a lot of energy to serve the state more.

He said that the festival of Raksha Bandhan, along with being a symbol of mutual love, affection and trust, is also a festival that makes us aware of our social duties, which reminds us of our duties towards sisters.

The Chief Minister said that today in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is continuously working towards making daughters and women capable, empowered and self-reliant in every way. On the one hand, through various schemes like Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao Yojana, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana and Ujjwala Yojana, the Modi government is trying to make the daughters and women of the country self-reliant.

The Chief Minister said that along with ending the evil practice of triple talaq, the government has also worked to empower women by implementing the Nari Shakti Vandan Act, construction of toilets, giving priority to women under the housing scheme, increasing maternity leave and opening the way for daughters to enter the army and Sainik schools. The result of this is that the women of the country are playing an important role in every field, from growing grains in the fields to being a part of space programs and from winning medals in sports to taking command in the army.

The Chief Minister said that under the guidance of the Prime Minister, 'our state government is also working with determination for the upliftment and empowerment of women. We have tried to ensure maximum participation of women in the field of employment by giving 30 per cent horizontal reservation to women of the state in government jobs. To empower the women of the state economically, we have provided financial assistance of crores of rupees to 'self-help groups'. The products made by the women of the state are reaching every corner of the world today through our 'House of Himalayas brand.

The Chief Minister said that women's groups have achieved immense success in the field of entrepreneurship on the basis of their hard work and self-confidence. 'In our state, more than 1.63 lakh sisters have become Lakhpati Didi under the Lakhpati Didi Yojana, which shows that the sisters of the state are no less than anyone else. More than 30 thousand women have benefited from the 'Mukhyamantri Sashakt Bahana Utsav Yojana' started to promote the livelihood of women groups and have done business of more than Rs 5 crore.'

On this occasion, Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that under the leadership of the Prime Minister, he has had the opportunity to work on important schemes related to the welfare of women like Har Ghar Shauchalay and Jal Jeevan Mission. (ANI)