The State Government headed by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has ensured that Himachal Pradesh emerges as frontrunner State of the country in matter of development with its hard work, dedication and commitment to ensure welfare of the people of the State and all this was possible due to the double engine governments at the Centre and the State. This was stated by the MP and National BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda while addressing the mammoth gathering at Paonta Sahib of Sirmaur district to celebrate ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ commemorating 75 years of freedom of India. While thanking the people of Sirmaur for according him rousing welcome, Jagat Prakash Nadda said that due to the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the country and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur in the State that the BJP leaders always speak about the development in the Centre and the State.
He said that the BJP Government was committed to come upto the expectations of the people as the BJP Government was a proactive Government. He said that the Central Government was committed to make India a ‘Vishav Guru’ and the State Government headed by the Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur was poised to make Himachal Pradesh the most progressive State of the country. Jagat Prakash Nadda also urged the people of the State to follow five promises listed by the Prime Minister from the Red Fort, while addressing the Nation on the occasion of Independence Day celebrated as ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’. Jagat Prakash Nadda said that vaccinations of measles, Japani Fever, Polio etc. took years after its invention to reach India, but with the efforts Prime Minister Narendra Modi, corona vaccine was prepared within nine months of the first case of Covid-19. He said that apart from providing over 200 crore free vaccines to the people of the country, vaccines were provided to over 100 other countries of the world. He also appreciated the efforts of the State Government in becoming the first State in the country in administering first and second doses of the vaccine. He said that it was possible due to the able leadership provided by the Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to ensure not get carried away by false promises of the opposition. BJP National President said that the Centre Government also succeeded in bringing back over 24000 students of the country stranded in Ukraine, out of which about 430 students were from Himachal Pradesh.
He said that even students of Pakistan succeeded in getting out from Ukraine by hoisting the Indian Flag on their vehicles. He said that this was the picture of changing India and was possible only due to the strong leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he added. Jagat Prakash Nadda said that it was the Prime Minister who ensured that the weaker sections of the society and those deprived of welfare benefits get their dues. He said that over 50 crore people of the country were provided health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh. He said that the left-out people of the State were provided this cover by the Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur while starting HIMCARE. He said that the Congress Government always ignored interests of the State whereas on the other hand, the status of special category state was restored by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that the 90:10 ratio for Central-State share for projects was also restored during the tenure of the BJP. He said that the special industrial package for Himachal Pradesh was also provided by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, but former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh discontinued this package. The National BJP President said that Atal Tunnel was also a gift of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the people of the State. He said that with the construction of this tunnel, the dream of Atal Bihari Vajpayee was fulfilled. He said that work on the Rs. 7000 crore Renuka Project was also started by the present Centre and State Government. He said that 1.72 lakh toilets were constructed in the country under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
He said that Himachal Pradesh has emerged a Smoke-free State due to Ujjawala Yonja of Centre and Grihini Suvidha Yojna of the State Government. He said that the Kol Dam Project was also started during the tenure of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and dedicated to the State by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that work on the Luhri Project could also be started only after the BJP came to power at Centre. Jagat Prakash Nadda said that Rs. 1300 crore AIIMS Bilaspur was sanctioned to the State during the tenure of the BJP government and was nearing completion. He said that Medical Colleges at Chamba, Sirmaur, Hamirpur, Mandi were sanctioned to the State by the BJP Government at the Centre. He said that the Satellite Centre of PGI was coming up in Una and several Trauma Centres were coming up in the State. All these projects were possible due to the double engine Governments at the Centre and the State, he added. He also accused the Congress leaders for misleading the people of the State with an eye on elections. He reminded the people of the State about various scams during the tenure of UPA government at the Centre. He, on the behalf of the Chief Minister, announced the opening of the Additional District Magistrate Court at Paonta Sahib. He said that the issue of providing scheduled tribe status to Hatti community of Sirmaur district would be resolved soon so that people of this community could take benefit of tribal status. While addressing the gathering on the occasion, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said that the State was fortunate that the son of the soil was heading the largest political party of the world. He said that almost every Party worker has a sweet memory of working with the BJP National President.
He said that Paonta Sahib was a holy and historic city and a historic occasion of 75 years of existence of Himachal Pradesh and also celebrating 75 years of India’s Independence as “Azadi Ka Amrit Mohautsav’. He said that this was the occasion to remember the contributions of lakhs of people of the country in the freedom struggle. Jai Ram Thakur said that it was the fortune of the State that Prime Minister Narendra Modi considers Himachal Pradesh his second home and was always considerate towards the developmental needs of the State. He said that during the corona pandemic the National leadership ensured that no one in the country was deprived of food, masks, sanitizers and other essentialities. He said that the Party workers in the State also did commendable work during the pandemic by providing over 50 lakh masks to the needy. He said that history would remember those who during the pandemic successfully sailed out the country from the testing times of the pandemic. He said that this idea of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to celebrate the occasion, in a befitting manner was indeed a commendable effort to pay our respect to the great sons of the soil, besides educating the younger generation regarding the supreme sacrifices made by the great freedom fighters for the cause of the Nation. Chief Minister said that Himachal Pradesh has also made immense progress in all spheres in all fields of development during all these 75 years. He said that all the Chief Ministers from Dr. Y.S. Parmar, Ram Lal Thakur, Shanta Kumar, Virbhadra Singh and Prem Kumar Dhumal had made their contributions in the development of this State. But the biggest credit of this unprecedented development in the State goes to the hardworking and honest people of the State, he added.
Jai Ram Thakur said that Himachal Pradesh during these 75 years have made unparalleled progress in all spheres in matter of development. He said that at the time of formation of the State, there were only four districts, whereas today the State has 12 districts. He said that the literacy rate of the State in 1948 was 4.8 per cent, whereas today the literacy rate of the State is over 83 per cent. He said that the hilly States like Himachal Pradesh, the roads were life-lines for the development and the successive Governments of the State laid special focus for construction of the roads. He said that Rs. 60,000 crore PMGSY was started by the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and nearly 51 per cent roads were constructed under this scheme. He said that construction of roads has paved a way for a sound foundation of development in the State. Chief Minister said that Sirmaur district has always been accorded top priority in matter of development. He said that now the State Government was striving hard to fulfill the most emotional issue of the district by granting tribal status to the Hatti community of the district. He said that with the blessings of the Centre, this long pending issue would be resolved very soon. He urged the people of the State to give wholehearted support to the State Government so that BJP could again form Government in the State and the trend of ‘One time BJP one time Congress’ could be changed. Jai Ram Thakur thanked Jagat Prakash Nadda for sanctioning Medical Colleges, AIIMS, PGI Satellite Centre etc. for the State. He said that the State has made unparalleled development in the health sector, not only in providing health services to the people, but also in vaccination of the people of the State against the deadly covid-19 virus. Earlier, the National BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur visited famous Gurudwara Sahib Paonta Sahib and paid obeisance. They were presented ‘Siropa’ by the Gurudwara Prabandhan Committee.
The leaders also visited the ‘Saheed Samarak’ and paid floral tributes to the martyrs. Member of Parliament and State BJP President Suresh Kashyap, while welcoming the BJP National President Jagat Prakash Nadda and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, said that the double engine Governments at the Centre and the State has given a big boost to the development. He said that construction work on the Nahan Medical College which was sanctioned by Jagat Prakash Nadda, when he was Union Health Minister was going on in full swing. He also urged the National BJP President to accord tribal status to the Hatti community of the district. Power Minister Sukh Ram Chaudhary while welcoming the National BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur in his constituency detailed various developmental schemes being initiated in his constituency. He also urged the National BJP President to expedite the process of granting tribal status to the Hatti community of the district. Health Minister Dr Rajiv Saizal, Co-Incharge State BJP Sanjay Tondon, MLA Reena Kashyap, Vice Chairman State Civil Supplies Corporations Baldev Tomar, Chairman Khadi Board Purshottam Guleria, Chairman State Marketing Board Baldev Bhandari, District BJP President Vinay Gupta, Mandal BJP President Arvind Gupta were present on the occasion among others.
