While addressing the gathering on the occasion of the closing ceremony of district level Kuthah Mela at Kuthah in Gram Panchayat Tungadhar in Seraj area of Mandi district today, Chief Minister Shri Jai Ram Thakur said that fairs and festivals were integral part of the rich cultural repository of the State. He urged to the people of the State to work for conservation and promotion of the rich cultural heritage.He announced PWD Division at Janjehli on the occasion. He also announced Rs 60 lakh for different roads on the occasion. He said that Rs 62 crore was being spent in the area for maintenance and construction of roads in the area. He said that Rs 3 crore would be spent on Bio Diversity Park Janjehli in a phased manner.Shri Jai Ram Thakur said that he was a regular visitor of this fair since his school days and now he was participating in the fair as the Chief Minister of the State. This all was due to the blessings of the deities of the area and benevolence of the people of the region.The Chief Minister said that he was given the responsibility of heading the State by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and BJP National President Shri Amit Shah. He said that both these leaders were of the view that the State should be headed by a leader with grass root base and a clean image. He said that it was a record in itself that Prime Minister, Union Home Minister, Chief Ministers of eleven States, 2 Deputy Chief Ministers and all senior national leaders of BJP were present in his oath ceremony.
Jai Ram Thakur said that the first budget presented by him in the State Vidhan Sabha was unique in itself as it contained 30 new schemes with adequate budget provisions. He said that even the opposition failed to find any flaw in the budget. He said that the State has immense tourism potential. Janjehli would be developed from tourism point of view, he added. He said that heli-taxi service was being launched in the State from 4th June. Efforts would be made to explore connecting Shikari Mata with this service, he added.He said that the people of the country and state need to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He urged the people of the State to work for a strong and vibrant Himachal and strong India, which was only possible with Shri Modi at the Centre.He said that the previous State Government opened 16 degree colleges in the fag-end of its tenure with a budget provision of only Rs 1 lakh for each college. He said the State Government decided to levy 15 per cent from offerings of the temples for construction and maintenance of Gau Sadans.Chief Minister announced upgradation of Government Primary School Rod to Middle school, announced science classes at GSS School Jord. He also announced Rs. 2.36 crore for construction of lab and science blocks in two Senior Secondary Schools of the area. Announced Rs.10 lakh for Mini stadium Kuthah, Rs 8 crore for IPH water supply scheme for four panchayats of the area, Rs 5 lakh for Jan Bhawan at kuthah.MLA Sundernagar Shri Rakesh Jamwal while greeting the people of the area on the occasion of Kuthah mela said that the Seraj area was blessed to give the Chief Minister of the State from Mandi district. Now it was the duty of the people of the district to ensure that this opportunity does not go wasted. He said that the Chief Minister in its first budget has made announcements of 30 new schemes for the State which was a record in itself.President Gram Panchayat Tungadhar and Chairperson Mela Organizing Committee Mrs Ranjana Sharma welcomed the Chief Minister and detailed brief history of the fair.MLA Nachan Shri Vinod Kumar, MLA Balh Shri Inder Singh and MLA Karsog Shri Hira Lal, Deputy Commissioner Mandi Shri Rugved Thakur, SP Shri Gurudev Chand Sharma, Seraj Mandal BJP President Shri Sher Singh were present on the occasion among others.