Progress hit under BJP rule: HPCC president Kuldeep Rathore

Our Correspondent

Palampur, October 9

Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Kuldeep Rathore today said all development works in the state had come to a standstill in the last two-and-a-half tenure of the Jai Ram Thakur government.

Rathore alleged that the state governmnt had failed to get Central approval for any big project for the state, and rather lost key ones, including the four-laning of Kangra-Shimla and Pathankot-Mandi highways, sanctioned by the former Congress-led Union government.

He alleged that the former Congress government had also started the land acquisition process for these projects, which had now been declared unviable by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

The Congress leader said most state roads were in a dilapidated state. It was a nightmare to travel on the Shimla–Kangra, Kiratpur-Mandi NH, which linked eight districts to the state capital. He asked Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to travel by road than a helicopter to see the ground reality.

Rathore alleged that health services in the state were poor and non-Covid patients were the worst hit. All surgeries in hospitals had been deliberately suspended and even critical patients were being referred to private hospitals. The number of non-Covid deaths had gone up in the last six months.