Himachal Governor: Promises made to people will be fulfilled in phased manner

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, February 14

The 13-day Budget session of the Vidhan Sabha commenced here today. Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla, while addressing the House, said that all promises made to the people of the state would be fulfilled in a phased manner, as the Congress had adopted its election manifesto as a policy document.

The Governor began his 42-page address in Hindi by stating that the government had completed one year of ‘vyavastha parivartan’. “The lack of funds will not be allowed to come in the way of development and rehabilitation works worth Rs 1,741.17 crore have been undertaken in the aftermath of the devastation caused by unprecedented monsoonal rains last year,” he added.

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• The government has set up Adarsh Swasthya Sansthan in all 68 Assembly segments with doctors, said the Governor
• The old pension scheme has been implemented and 1.15 lakh staff given the option
• The work on the 63-km Bhanupali-Bilaspur-Beri railway line underway at a cost of Rs 6,753.42 crore
• The state and the Railways to undertake the construction of the 31-km Chandigarh-Baddi railway line at a cost of Rs 1,540.13 crore

He said that despite challenges, the government had set the goal of making Himachal economically self-reliant in the next four years and among the most prosperous states in the next 10 years.

Shukla elaborated on how under a special relief package, the government had enhanced the compensation almost five to 20 times compared to as per the norms set by the Central Government. “The relief for a totally damaged house has been enhanced from Rs 1.30 lakh to Rs 7 lakh, from Rs 4,000 to Rs 1 lakh for partially damaged and from Rs 6,000 to Rs 1 lakh for a partially damaged pucca house,” he said.

The Governor’s address made special mention of the manner in which the government managed to safely evacuate 75,000 tourists stranded at various locations across Himachal. He said that open heart surgery had been started at Tanda medical college and a genome sequencing laboratory had been set up at Mandi medical college.

The Governor said, “Due to irregularities in recruitment exams, the Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission, Hamirpur, was dissolved on February 21, 2023, and the HP Rajya Chayan Aayog was established.”

He said that the government had approved a new excise policy, which would generate an additional revenue of Rs 519 crore, which is 40 per cent more than last year. He also listed steps taken to curb the problem of rising drug addiction among the youth.

Shukla said that the old pension scheme had been implemented and 1.15 lakh government employees had been given the option. He added that 5.50 lakh families had benefited under the MGNREGA and the road network in the state had been strengthened.

He said that Rs 3,000 crore had been allocated in the Budget to make Kangra the tourism capital of the state. He added that five new heliports were being set up at Manali (Kullu), Kangnidhar (Mandi), Baddi (Solan), Sanjauli and Rampur (Shimla) and one heliport at every district headquarters, besides the construction of ropeways to promote tourism.

He listed the government initiatives for enhancing agricultural and horticultural production. “This year, 1,167 metric tonnes of tea was produced, the highest in the past 25 years, and Kangra tea has received the GI tag,” he added.