Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur while addressing virtual rallies of Yuva Morcha Solan and Yuva Morcha Dehra of Kangra district from Shimla today said that the youth of the State played a pivotal role during the COVID-19 pandemic in providing food, masks and other essential items to the people. He also urged the youth of Yuva Morcha to come forward in effectively disseminating the policies and programmes of the Centre and State Governments. Jai Ram Thakur said that the youth also helped the Government in sensitizing the people regarding importance of social distancing in checking the pandemic. He said that the youth also played a crucial role in ensuring that the people do no jump home quarantine. He said that the State Government took all preventive measures to check spread of this virus. He said that one stage the State was about to become Corona free but due to arrival of over 2 lakh Himachalis stranded in different parts of the country, there was sharp increase in number of COVID-19 positive patients. He said that people of the State need not worry as all the people coming to State were being allowed to go home only after their proper testing.Chief Minister said that the Rs 20 lakh crore economic package announced by the Union Government would go a long way in reviving the economy of the country. He said that free gas connections have been provided to 2.76 lakh families under State Scheme Ghirini Suvidha Yojna and 1.36 lakh connections under Ujjawala Yojna. He said that Rs 500 each have been deposited in the accounts of 5.90 lakh eligible women under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna during the month of April, May and June, 2020.
Jai Ram Thakur said that the people of the State were fortunate to have a visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that it was due his farsighted decisions and timely initiatives that COVID-19 cases were not so alarming in the country. He said that there were about 24 COVID-19 cases in the country per lakh population as compared to 656 per lakh in US and 622 per lakh in Spain. Similarly, the death rate due to COVID-19 in India was 0.70 per lakh population as compared to 61 deaths per lakh in US. Chief Minister said that the BJP Government at Centre has completed one year in office recently and this one year has been witness to several historic decisions. He said that abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, abolition of Triple Talaq, Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and paving way for construction of Lord Ram temple at Ahodhya were a few decisions which were long pending and now fulfilled.Industries Minister Bikram Singh congratulated the Yuva Morcha Dehra for successfully organising the virtual rally. He said that youth of the Yuva Morcha have played a vital role during the COVID-19 epidemic. He said that they have contributed generously towards HP SDMA COVID-19 State Disaster Response Fund and PM CAREs besides distributing face masks and sanitizers to the people. He also thanked the Chief Minister for effectively tackling the COVID-19 situation in the State. He said that Chief Minister has launched several schemes for the welfare of every section of the society.State President Yuva Morcha Amit Thakur welcomed the Chief Minister on the occasion and said that the youth of the State were rock solid behind the State Government.Horticulture and Jal Shakti Minister Mahender Singh Thakur, Transport Minister Govind Thakur and Senior BJP leader Randhir Sharma were present with the Chief Minister at Shimla. Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dr. Rajiv Saizal, MLA Paramjit Singh Pammi, General Secretary BJP Trilok Jamwal, State BJP Vice President Purushotam Gularia, Vice Chairman Khadi Board Sanjiv Katwal, Vice Chairman Water Management Board Darshan Singh Saini attended the virtual rally.