SHIMLA, 19.11.25-Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced opening of a PWD Division in the Doon Assembly constituency of Solan district. He also announced the up-gradation of Baddi Civil Hospital to 100-bedded and Rs. 25 crore for construction of the SDM office and Rs. 10 crore for construction of a sports stadium.

He said that facilities in Baddi must match the growing population adding that a modern bus stand would be constructed at Baddi for which adequate funds would be provided. He announced that the Baddi, Barotiwala and Chandi schools would have CBSE curriculum from the next academic session.

The Chief Minister while addressing a huge gathering at Baddi made a scathing attack on the previous BJP government for turning a blind eye on corruption. He alleged that the BJP government gave away 5,000 bighas of land worth hundreds of crores to big industrial houses for just Rs. 1.12 crore, under the guise of customized packages. The stamp duty was waived and provisions were made to supply electricity at Rs. 3 per unit for five years and even free water. “As long as I am the Chief Minister, I will not allow the State’s assets to be plundered. We are custodians of Himachal Pradesh’s resources,” he asserted.

He added that the State Government was safeguarding the interests of Himachal and that's why we returned Rs. 30 crore received from the Centre for the bulk drug park and decided to develop it on our own. “The BJP’s social media cell is targeting me because I took stringent measures to curb corruption and ensured that the widows, orphans, women, labourers and farmers get their rights,” he added. The previous BJP government left behind a debt of Rs. 75,000 crore and liabilities of Rs 10,000 crore pertaining to employees. For electoral gains, the previous government opened various institutions in the last six months of their tenure without proper budgetary provisions and staff, he added.

The Chief Minister said local MLA Chaudhary Ram Kumar was always concerned about the development of the Doon constituency and works tirelessly to address concerns of the people irrespective political affiliations.

Highlighting the reforms undertaken by the present state government, he said that by bringing reforms in the education sector, the State stands 5^th from 21^st rank. We have started English-medium from 1^st class and merged the school directorates and from the next academic session, 100 CBSE schools would be opened in the State.

Sh. Sukhu said the health had also been strengthened and we have ensures to equip the health institutions with advanced technology and modern equipments and have allocated Rs. 3,000 crore for the sector.

Despite several challenges, Himachal Pradesh is steadily moving towards self-reliance. He said that the government was going to make large-scale recruitments in government departments. During the previous BJP tenure, recruitment papers were leaked. We disbanded the Commission, because we believe in transparency and merit-based recruitments.

The Chief Minister said the State Government was extending helping hand to the disaster-affected families. I have personally visited every disaster-hit area and issued special relief packages to the affected families. The Government changed the relief manual to ensure adequate financial support to the affected families and enhanced the relief amount from Rs. 1.30 lakh to Rs. 7 lakh to rebuild their homes.

He reiterated that he has repeatedly offered to accompany all the seven BJP MPs to seek financial assistance from the Centre for the disaster affected families. The Prime Minister himself had announced a package of Rs. 1,500 crore but we have not received the funds yet and we were helping the families with our own resources.

The Chief Minister distributed relief of Rs. 17,62,000 to 18 disaster-affected families as per Himachal Pradesh Relief Manual and cheques of Rs. 17,03,000 to 15 beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna-Grameen as final installment of Doon Constituency. He also presented nutrition kits to three TB patients under Tuberculosis Eradication Programme on the occasion.

Chaudhary Ram Kumar thanked the people saying that with their blessings, his father Chaudhary Lajja Ram served four terms as MLA. He said development works worth Rs. 475 crore were already underway in the constituency and today the CM has dedicated projects worth nearly Rs. 400 crore. He added that the newly dedicated 50-bed Baddi Hospital was a major milestone. In the last three years, major offices have been opened in the Doon constituency.

Health Minister Dr. (Col) Dhani Ram Shandil, MLAs Vinod Sultanpuri and Bawa Hardeep, Chairman Jogindra Cooperative Bank Mukesh Sharma, Congress leaders Shiv Kumar, Surender Sethi were present on the occasion.

-0-