While presiding over the closing ceremony of the International Shri Renuka Ji fair at Renuka, in Sirmour district today, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said that fairs and festivals were the integral part of our rich cultural repository and concerted efforts must be made to conserve the same for the generations to come.Chief Minister paid obeisance in the Lord Parshuram temple and Mata Renuka ji temple and also participated in the ‘Dev Vidai’ procession. He also led the procession by giving shoulder to the palanquin of the Lord Parshuram.Jai Ram Thakur said that the present State Government was about to complete two years in office in the month of December and during all this period the State has witnessed unprecedented development. He said that people of the State have given tremendous love and affection to the State Government. BJP has won all the elections held during this period be it Lok Sabha or the bye elections of two constituencies of the State. He said that the BJP won in all the 68 assembly constituencies of the State during the Lok Sabha Elections with a record margin.Chief Minister said that during the last about two years the efforts of the State Government was to ensure equitable and balanced development of the State. He said that on the day of assuming office, the State Government lowered the age limit for availing the benefit of old age pension without income limit from 80 years to 70 years. He said that Janmanch programme launched by the State Government has been appreciated even by the political opponents. As many as 35,000 issues had been resolved during this programme. He said that now the 1100 Chief Minister Sewa Sankalp Helpline was proving to be a boon to the people of the State for redressal of their grievances.
Jai Ram Thakur said that the Union Government had launched Ayushmann Bharat Yojna for the people of the Country for providing insurance cover of upto Rs 5 lakh. He said that as many as 50 crore people had been covered under this scheme, which was ensuring that the poor patients were not deprived of specialised health care facilities due to need of money. He said that as many as 22 lakh people of the State have been covered under the scheme. He said that the State Government has launched HimCare scheme in the State to provide health insurance cover to those families who have not been covered under Ayushmann Bharat Yojna. He said that Sahara Yojna has been launched for providing relief to the families having a member suffering from serious illness. Under this scheme, Rs two thousand were being provided per month for the better care of the patient. He said that due to the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India was poised to emerge as the Super Power of the world. Now, Article 370 and 35A have become history and now entire India has one Constitution and one Symbol, he said adding that this was possible due to the strong leadership at the Centre in form of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also welcomed the decision of Supreme Court regarding Shri Ram Janambhumi. He said that the Global Investors' Meet organized by the State Government got overwhelming response and Prime Minister also urged the entrepreneurs to invest in the State.Chief Minister announced to increase the nazrana for palanquins (palkis) of four deities from Rs. 11 thousand to Rs. 21 thousand.Chief Minister also visited the developmental exhibition in the fair installed by various departments and gave away prizes to participants and winners of the best exhibition. District Rural Development Authority received the first prize, second prize went to Education Department whereas Ayurveda Department bagged the third prize in exhibition.
Earlier, the Chief Minister opened new Irrigation and Public Health Sub Division at Dadhau. This would benefit about 50,000 people of twenty-three panchayats of the area and would have four sections of Dadhau, Renuka ji, Parada and Giri Nagar. He also inaugurated water supply scheme to Sirguldhar and some villages of Nahan tehsil constructed with an amount of Rs 3.60 crore. This scheme would cover 46 habitats of four panchayats of the area.Chief Minister also launched the ‘Polythene Free Sirmour Scheme’, an initiative of the district administration to make Sirmour district polythene free. He also launched "Kinkri Devi Paryavaran Purskar Yojna". Chief Minister was given rousing reception enroute from Chauri Ki Dhar helipad, about 10 kilometres from Renuka ji to the Mela Ground. Member of Parliament, Shimla Parliamentary Constituency Suresh Kashyap said that he would work with dedication and commitment to reach upto the expectations of the people of the State, as well as the State leadership. He also thanked the Chief Minister for according priority in matter of development for Sirmour district.MLA Renuka Vinay Kumar while welcoming the Chief Minister to his home constituency detailed various demands of the area. He also urged the Chief Minister for providing adequate staff in the health and educational institutions of the area.Former Vice Chairman, SC/ST Development Corporation Balbir Chauhan welcomed the Chief Minister and other dignitaries present on the occasion. He said that the State has made tremendous progress under the able leadership of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.Speaker State Vidhan Sabha Dr Rajiv Bindal, MLA Paonta Sahib Sukhram Chaudhary, MLA Pachhad Reena Kashyap, Vice Chairman State Civil Supplies Corporation Baldev Tomar, Chairman HP Agricultural Marketing Board Baldev Bhandari, General Secretary State BJP Chander Mohan Thakur, Deputy Commissioner Sirmour Dr R.K.Pruthi were present on the occasion among others.