Baramulla, Aug 3: Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Health and Education, Sakina Itoo, on Monday asserted that the National Conference will never give up its demand for restoration of statehood, even as she announced a series of major welfare measures for women and Anganwadi workers in the Union Territory.
Addressing a public outreach programme here, the Jammu and Kashmir health minister Sakina Itoo as per news agency Kashmir News Service (KNS) said the chief minister Omar Abdullah National Conference government has been consistently working for the welfare of Anganwadi workers and helpers, and announced that a cabinet memo has been prepared to provide the job to a family member of a deceased worker without issuing any advertisement.
“The amount of work you do and your contribution is acknowledged by all of us. Our sisters working in ICDS receive very little compared to the work they do. We are aware of this and are making efforts to ensure their dues are settled,” she said.
The minister said the employment will remain within the household of the deceased worker and the government is also working to relax the age criteria for contractual workers.
Taking a dig at previous regimes, minsiter Itoo said while the proposal to increase honorariums for Anganwadi workers is pending with the central government, it is the present dispensation that has pushed for their welfare.
On the political front, minister Sakina Itoo said the National Conference remains committed to the restoration of statehood. “We still call Jammu and Kashmir a state and will continue to call it a state until it is restored again,” she said.
The minister also announced that marriage assistance for poor women has been increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000, while pensions for the elderly and widows have been hiked. She said free education for girls up to Class 12 has been introduced to address dropout rates.
The Jammu and Kashmir health minister Sakina Itoo urged officials to conduct awareness campaigns on social welfare schemes to ensure benefits reach the intended beneficiaries. (KNS)
