Cong: State denied aid for tourism development

AICC spokesperson Kuldeep Rathore today expressed surprise over the omission of Himachal from the list of 23 states that had been received special financial assistance from the Centre to promote and develop tourism. He accused the Centre of meting out a step-motherly treatment to Himachal.

“The Centre has given a special assistance of Rs 3,296 crore to 23 states but Himachal does not figure on the list. Excluding Himachal Pradesh, which is a famous tourism state, from the list is both surprising and unfortunate,” said Rathore, Congress MLA from Theog.

Rathore accused the Centre of bias against Himachal and ignoring its genuine interests. He slammed BJP MPs for not speaking up for the state. “It’s sad that the BJP MPs from the state are not able to protect the interests of the state,” he added.

He said that the Centre did not provide any assistance to the state to deal with the rain calamity last year and now it was hurting the tourism sector of the state by denying special assistance it was offering to other states. “Himachal is the first choice of tourists, both domestic and foreign. Every year, lakhs of tourists visit the state and the Central Government should provide special help for tourism development in the state,” he added.

Rathore urged Union Health Minister JP Nadda to raise the issue with the Central Government.