Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday transferred around Rs 950 crore in bank accounts of over 37 lakh beneficiaries under three different schemes on completion of three years of the UPA-led coalition government in the state.

He also unveiled a portal for sportspersons and 'Johar Pariyojana' portal to keep track of developmental schemes during a state-level programme at Ranchi’s Project Building.?"The past three years have been challenging, as the state faced COVID-19 pandemic where economy and livelihood activities came to a standstill. I don’t think any government in the state faced challenges like us in past 20 years. But, we were able to convert every disaster into opportunity with the help of the people," Soren said.

He said that his government is working day and night for all classes of people in the state. Financial assistance was sent through direct benefit transfer to lakhs of beneficiaries under Drought Relief Scheme, Pre-Matric Scholarship and Savitribai Phule Kishori Samriddhi Yojana, Soren said.

The JMM-led government had on October 29 declared 226 of the 260 blocks of the state as drought-affected and decided to provide a cash relief of Rs 3,500 to each affected farmer family under the chief minister’s drought relief scheme.

About 6.64 lakh farmers were provided Rs 232.36 lakh as drought relief on Thursday. "The state faced drought on several occasions. But, this is for the first time when they are being provided financial assistance in time," Soren said.

Under Pre-Matric Scholarship scheme, around Rs 500 crore was transferred in accounts of 25 lakh SC/ST and OBC students, studying between Class-1 to Class-10. Similarly, a total of 5,52,685 beneficiaries received around Rs 219.29 crore under Savitribai Phule Kishori Samriddhi Yojana.

Soren said they did the work of giving rights to the needy by changing the system. "The government worked in all areas whether it is a matter of social security, employment, farmers, education, infrastructure or other areas. The children of poor are now becoming officers in our government and people are getting pension," he said.

The CM said that the results of preparations done in past three years are about to come. "We can expect betters results in the field of education, health, employment, self-employment and others," he said. Rural Development minister Alamgir Alam of Congress and Labour minister Satyanand Bhokta of RJD were also present at the programme.

Meanwhile, Jharkhand BJP on Thursday released a "charge-sheet" against the Hemant Soren government terming its three-year a period of "lie, loot and corruption." BJP state president Deepak Prakash said, "The state government indulged in acute corruption. State’s law and order and economic activity have deteriorated in past three years. The government has failed on all fronts."