Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today performed the foundation stone laying ceremony of two developmental projects at Dhaneta and also inaugurated a drinking water Scheme for Nadaun assembly constituency of district Hamirpur. He laid the foundation stone of B-Block of Government Degree College, Dhaneta to be constructed at a cost of Rs. 7.60 crore and laid foundation stone of the building of Village Water and Sanitation Committee (VWSC) at Dhaneta to cost Rs. 2.29 crore. Besides, he also inaugurated the Jansuh lift drinking water scheme.
Addressing a public meeting in Dhaneta, the Chief Minister said that the government had made a provision of Rs. 25 crore for Dhaneta College. He added that an indoor stadium would also be built in Kharidi in Nadaun assembly constituency. Sh. Sukhu said that the present government inherited a huge debt burden from the previous BJP government, but now the economy of Himachal Pradesh was slowly coming back on track and there has been an improvement of 20 percent in the state's financial health in just one year.
The state witnessed unprecedented disaster during the monsoon season, due to which 16 thousand families were affected. Despite limited financial resources, the state government changed the rules to resettle the affected people and increased the compensation manifold. Himachal didn't receive any special relief package from the Center to deal with the disaster.
The state government had sent claims of about Rs. 10,000 crores related to monsoon losses to the central government. 'I have personally met Union Home Minister and senior union JP leaders in this regard but the State BJP leaders were creating hurdles in getting the funds released. Sh. Sukhu said that the state government was holding Revenue Lok Adalats to settle the pending revenue cases.
More than 65,000 partition and mutation cases have been settled so far in these Adalats whereas more than three and a half thousand pending cases of partition have been settled. It was for the first time a government is making serious efforts in this direction, he remarked. Counting the developments, the Chief Minister said that the state government has restored the old pension for government employees.
English medium is going to be started from first class in all the government schools from the next academic session. The school management has been given the right to choose one smart uniform for the children to make feel them at par with the children of English medium schools. He said that due to the indifferent attitude of the previous BJP government in the field of education, Himachal Pradesh was pushed back to 18th rank in terms of qualitative education.
The state government was making changes in the field of education foreseeing the future challenges. He said that the state government has set the age of six years for admission of a child in the first class but in this session children can be given age relaxation of a few months.
The government was going to make 20,000 recruitments in various government departments and the JOA (IT) exam result will be declared soon. The state government has fought this battle till the Supreme Court with the decision in its favor. He said that women's reservation in police recruitment has been increased to 30 percent. Efforts were also being made by the state government to provide self-employment opportunities.
The Congress Party had promised to bring a start-up scheme for the youth during elections. Fulfilling the same, the first phase of Rs. 680 crore Rajiv Gandhi Self-Employment Start-up Scheme has been launched wherein 50 percent subsidy was being provided to the youth for the purchase of e-taxi. Apart from this, the state government will also provide financial assistance for setting up solar energy projects and will purchase electricity from them for 25 years, to ensure fixed income to the youth.
For the economic prosperity of farmers, a new scheme will be introduced in the upcoming budget session as well. He said that the state government has made a historic increase in the price of milk purchase by Rs 6 per litre. After the successful implementation of Sukh-Ashray Yojna, the state government will bring a scheme to bear the entire expense of education of children of widows and single women in its next Budget.
He said that the state government has started Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar Vidyarthi Loan Scheme, under which loan up to Rs 20 lakh was being provided to students at one percent interest for pursuing higher education. He also listened to the problems of the people in Mansai and Sadoh under the 'Sarkar Gaon Ke Dwar' program in Nadaun assembly constituency and gave appropriate instructions to the officials to resolve the problems quickly.
Hamirpur District Congress President and Kangra Cooperative Bank Chairman Kuldeep Singh Pathania said that Sh. Sukhu provided strong leadership during the disaster and many other prestigious institutions including NITI Aayog and World Bank has appreciated the ability of the Chief Minister.
Nadaun Block Congress President Captain Prithvi Chand welcomed the Chief Minister on his arrival in Nadaun assembly constituency and said that under the leadership of Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Nadaun assembly constituency as well as the entire Himachal Pradesh is getting uniform development.
MLA Suresh Kumar, Chief Minister's Political Advisor Sunil Sharma, former MLA Manjeet Dogra, State Skill Development Corporation Coordinator Atul Kadohata, State Congress spokesperson Vijay Dogra, Congress leader Dr. Pushpinder Verma, Prem Kaushal, were also present on the occasion.