Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said in a program ‘Himachal Ki Awaaz’ organized by the daily newspaper Divya Himachal at Tanda in Kangra district on Monday evening that Himachal is rapidly moving on the path of development and the future belongs to the people of Himachal Pradesh. He said that during the last two years, the state government has done multi-dimensional work in this direction.
The state government is working with commitment to bring the benefits of development to the last person of the society and policy and concrete decisions are being taken in this direction. Criticizing the previous government, Sukhu said that the BJP government did politics of appeasement for vote bank and emptied the state treasury.
During the tenure of the BJP government, no work was done in the direction of quality education and there was no proper staff in the state. Educational institutions were opened without appointments of teachers, as a result of which Himachal has slipped to 21st place in quality education in the country.
During his tenure, no work was done towards strengthening health services and people had to suffer the consequences. Said that after North-East India, Himachal Pradesh has the highest rate of cancer patients. He said that the present state government is making concrete efforts towards improving electricity, water and health services, the results of which are now visible.
The state government is recruiting 900 nurses and doctors through walk-in-interview and qualitative improvements are being made in the field of education. The Chief Minister said that to provide support to destitute children, the state government has adopted six thousand destitute children as ‘Children of the State’. Sukh Ashray Fund has been established for them, in which a contribution of Rs 110 crore was received.
The state government is providing free education to 23 thousand children of widows. The state government has recently started a campaign against drug traffickers. Apart from this, a state level drug prevention camp was organized in Kotla Barog of Pachhad assembly constituency of Sirmaur district. And rehabilitation centers are being established. A center of excellence is being established in Kandaghat of Solan district with the objective of providing higher education to the disabled.
Regarding the natural resources of the state, Mr Sukhu said that Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam has become a company worth Rs 67 thousand crores, while the annual budget of Himachal Pradesh is Rs 58 thousand crores. He said that the resources of the state will not be allowed to be destroyed. If Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam does not comply with the conditions of the state government, then the state government will acquire all three projects.
The state government will also take back the Shanan project from the Punjab government. Appreciating the ‘Himachal Ki Awaaz’ programme organised by Divya Himachal, the Chief Minister said that such programmes play an important role in promoting talent and folk culture. Congratulating the newspaper for organising this programme, he said that This initiative will inspire artists and youth to work for the welfare of the society.
The Chief Minister declared Sarvgya Sharma of District Mandi as the winner in the senior category of Himachal, Urmila Soni of District Kullu as the first runner-up, and Diksha Chauhan of Dharamshala as the second runner-up, while in the junior category Prakriti Sharma of District Hamirpur was the winner, Lalit Walia of District Kangra as the first runner-up and of District Hamirpur as the second runner-up. Garima Dagwal was awarded the second runner up prize.
During the program, the Chief Minister honoured Ajay Thakur as the best player, Dr. Suresh Joshi as the best environmentalist, Kamdhenu Sanstha as the best NGO, Rajendra Rajan as the best storyteller, Nidhi Sharma as the best chef, Ankush Barjatiya as the best young entrepreneur, Nidhi Dogra as the best child Yoga Sadhak, Ishant Bhardwaj as Best Folk Singer and Vishal Sharma as Best Comedian were honoured along with other dignitaries.
Agriculture Minister Chandra Kumar, Ayush Minister Yadavindra Goma, Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation Chairman R.S Bali, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Kishori Lal, Deputy Chief Whip Kewal Singh Pathania, MLA Malendra Rajan, former MLAs Surendra Kaku and Ajay Mahajan of Congress Leaders Devendra Jaggi and Surendra Mankotia, Kangra Central Cooperative Bank Chairman Kuldeep Singh Pathania, District Kangra Congress President Karan Singh Pathania, Divya Himachal CMD Bhanu Dhamija, Chief Editor Anil Soni, News Editor Sanjay Awasthi, Deputy Commissioner Hemraj Bairwa and Superintendent of Police Shalini Agnihotri were present at this event. were present on the occasion.
