The Chhattisgarh government's Sanchar Kranti Yojana, which entails giving free smartphones to 45 lakh women and 5 lakh students, is a crucial step to empower them, Chief Minister Raman Singh said today.
He was addressing a gathering during the "mobile tyauhar" (mobile festival) which kicked off in Raipur today.
The scheme was inaugurated in the state's Bastar district on July 26 by President Ram Nath Kovind.
"The biggest beneficiaries of the SKY scheme will be those residing in the rural areas and remote areas, farmers and workers," Singh said while calling it the biggest mobile phone distribution project in the world.
He called it a major step in the empowerment of women, especially those residing in rural areas, of the state.
"4G smartphones were till now the exclusive privilege of the affluent class. But now workers and farmers will get it and the state will enter a new era of development. It will now be called Smart Chhattisgarh," Singh claimed.
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These smartphones would be distributed over the next four months, Singh said.
He dedicated 556 new mobile towers installed across the state and also launched a mobile app titled "Goth" which will be pre-installed on these smartphones.
People of the state could know about government schemes, policies as well as cultural programmes through this app, he said.
Actor Kangana Ranaut, who was present on the occasion and distributed phones to beneficiaries, hailed Singh for SKY and called it a "one of a kind" project which was the outcome of his farsightedness.
She said that women comprised half the population of the country and empowering them was necessary.
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