Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday visited Netanar village in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district, where he inaugurated the Shaheed Veer Gundadhur Seva Dera, a public service and digital facilitation centre aimed at improving access to government services in the region.
According to an official statement, Shah visited a CRPF camp in the village before interacting with women associated with self-help groups engaged in tamarind processing and other livelihood activities.
During his visit to a tamarind processing centre, Shah sampled locally processed tamarind products and remarked on the sweetness of Bastar’s tamarind. Women associated with the Gundadhur self-help group informed him that processing and sale of tamarind pulp had helped improve their incomes.
One of the members, Lambi Nag, said women associated with the group expected to earn up to ₹1 lakh annually through the initiative.
Digital services in village
Shah also visited the newly inaugurated Seva Setu Centre, where various online government services will now be available locally for villagers.
Residents informed the Union minister that earlier they had to travel long distances for services such as Aadhaar registration and updates. Officials said the centre would now provide facilities including Aadhaar enrolment and correction, e-KYC services, mobile number updates and access to online certificates related to birth, income and caste.
Women at the centre also shared experiences related to government welfare schemes and digital banking training programmes being conducted there.
The centre is also providing training for “Bank Sakhis”, aimed at enabling women to assist villagers with banking services such as cash deposits, withdrawals, KYC updates and self-help group account operations.
Skill development initiatives
The Union Home Minister interacted with women undergoing training at a tailoring centre where basic and advanced stitching programmes are being conducted.
He also visited a rice processing training facility, where women said the initiative was helping improve household incomes through rice sales and use of by-products for cattle feed.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma and senior officials were also present during the visit.
