The annual plan of Himachal Pradesh for 2018-19 has been proposed at Rs 6,300 crore compared with Rs 5,700 crore for the current fiscal, denoting a 10.52 per cent increase, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said here on Monday.Presiding over a meeting of legislators to finalise the priorities for the 2018-19 state Budget, he announced an increase in legislator priority schemes under NABARD (National Agriculture Bank and Rural Department) through the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund.Each legislator can now recommend projects vis-a-vis Public Works and Irrigation and Public Health Departments up to Rs 90 crore. Earlier, the cap was Rs 80 crore.
Thakur thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for sanctioning an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) facility in Bilaspur at a cost of Rs 1,351 crore.The Bilaspur AIIMS would be completed within 48 months. The institute will consist of a 750-bed hospital and trauma centre.The Chief Minister said the process of hiring consultants for preparation of detailed project reports for 69 national highways in Himachal, sanctioned by the Ministry for Road Transport and Highways, would be completed by next month.He directed the departments to take suitable steps to ensure implementation of the centrally-sponsored schemes."We are determined to provide clean, effective, transparent and responsive governance and will give priority to information technology and e-governance," an official statement quoting the Chief Minister said.The Assembly's Budget Session will be held from March 6 to April 5, with a break from March 17 to 25.