Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today said his government had started the process to fill in more than 15,000 vacant posts under the Scheduled Caste and Backward Classes categories in the state.

The advertisement for the recruitment to the posts -- 8,781 for Scheduled Caste and 6,260 for Backward Classes -- would be published next month, the Chief Minister said while addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of Dr Ambedkar Bhawan and Hostel here.

Claiming that the Congress-led government''s policy was to ameliorate the socio-economic status of poor, Hooda said a sum of Rs 297 crore had been distributed among more than 1.75 lakh beneficiaries of the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Vivah Shagun Yojana so far.

Hooda said that his government had approved a sum of Rs 400 crore for the repair and renovation of chaupals (community buildings) of Scheduled Caste and Backward Classes, besides a special settlement scheme that would waive off entire amount of interest on loan taken by members of these communities.

The Chief Minister also declared that the wages of 11,000 Safai Karamcharis appointed by the state government would also be increased from Rs 4,848 to Rs 8,100 per month.