Directs to hasten the DPR work of Heliports

Raises concern over Stray cattle menace, directs SDMs and Vet officers

In a review Monday meeting with the Administrative Secretaries here today, Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu directed to incorporate technology in day-to-day functioning of the government departments to bring transparency and promptness to facilitate the common man.

He asked the revenue department to expedite the disposal of the long pending revenue and said that the 'Revenue Lok Adalats' would be organized at the tehsil headquarters level on 1st and 2nd December, 2023 to decide the  long pending mutation and partition cases on priority. He directed to maintain transparency in dealing with these revenue cases and forward the complete list of the disposed cases with names, addresses and contact numbers to the Chief Minister's Office.  He said that the entry would be made in the Annual Confidential Reports of Revenue Officers and progress would be considered during the promotion of the concerned officers. The ACRs of Revenue Officers will be made online from next year, he added. The Chief Minister said that 'Mutation Adalats' were organized on the 30th and 31st October, in which more than 31000 mutation cases were settled. 

Tourism is the key sector for revenue generation and the State Government is enhancing the tourism infrastructure in the State so as to attract more tourists. He directed to complete the Detailed Project Reports by 15th December, 2023 for establishing heliports at Rakkar and Palampur in Kangra district and Sultanpur in Chamba district. A modern heliport would also be established near to Shimla city as well. Furthermore, the State Government is also mulling to promote tea tourism.

He also directed to accord sanctions to the projects related to green industry on priority and reviewed the progress in this direction and took feedback on the green initiatives, as announced in his maiden budget speech in Vidhan Sabha. He said that as of now, 90 applications have been received for e-taxi. Charging infrastructure was being developed in a phased manner and necessary instructions were issued to expedite the construction of proposed e-charging stations. 

Under Rs. 680 crore, Rajiv Gandhi Swarojgar Start-up Yojna, the local youth would be provided subsidy for making them self-reliant and to open up new avenues of self-employment for them, he reiterated.

An integrated project of agriculture and fisheries departments will be launched in the State under Startup Yojna shortly which will go a long way in providing self-employment avenues to people in the State in this sector, said Sh. Sukhu.

He said that a sum of Rs. 100 crore would be allocated under Mukhya Mantri Sadak Yojna. Apart from this, Rs. 20 crore would be provided to Public Works Departments to repair and maintain the roads affected due to the recent disaster. He also reviewed the recruitment process of 4500 para workers in Jal Shakti Vibhag, 1200 constables in the Police Department and about 2100 Van Mitras in the Forest Department.

 He emphasized accelerating the introduction of robotic surgery and the latest medical equipment in all the medical colleges of the State to ensure that people do not have to go outside the State for specialized healthcare facilities. He also hinted the setting up of the National Cancer Institute in the State.  He also sought a status report within a week on the proposed state-of-the-art ashram for orphan children at Jwalamukhi in Kangra district.

He underlined to evolving mechanism to curb the menace of stray cattle and said that the concerned SDMs and Senior Veterinary Officers will jointly look into this. He also reviewed the progress of the proposed State-of-the-art milk plant at Dagwar in Kangra district and directed to expedite the DPR so that work on it could be started at the earliest.

Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena, Principal Secretary Revenue Onkar Chand Sharma, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Bharat Khera and other Administrative Secretaries attended the meeting.

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High Jump Gold medalist in Asian Para Games-2023 Nishad Kumar called on Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu here today. The Chief Minister commended Nishad for his remarkable achievement in the games held in Hangzhou, China.

Sh. Sukhu said that Nishad Kumar was as an inspiration for everyone, especially for the youth of Himachal Pradesh. Lauding Nishad Kumar for bringing laurels to the country as well as the state, the chief minister stated that he was an exceptional sporting talent.

The exceptional determination and unwavering spirit showcased by Nishad Kumar during competition were valuable lessons for the youth, highlighting the significance of strong willpower in overcoming challenges, including physical disabilities. The Chief Minister expressed confidence in his ability to further excel on the global stage and extended sincere wishes for his success in upcoming competitions.

MLA Chintpurni Sudarshan Babloo was also present on the occasion.

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Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu paid obeisance at Gurudwara Sahib Shri Guru Singh Sabha in Shimla today, on the auspicious occasion of Guru Nanak Dev Jayanti. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee honoured the Chief Minister with a Saropa on the occasion.

The Chief Minister extended congratulations to the people of the State on Guru Nanak Dev’s birth anniversary, emphasizing the profound dedication of Guru Nanak Dev to humanity. Stressing the enduring relevance of his teachings, the Chief Minister urged sincere adherence to these principles in today's world. 

“Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus, tirelessly worked for the upliftment of the underprivileged sections of society” he said.

The Chief Minster also honoured the meritorious students and said that the state government has introduced Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar Vidyarthi Rin (Loan) Yojna, under which loan upto Rs. 20 lakh on one percent interest was being provided to the students for their higher studies.

During the media interaction, he said that the cabinet expansion would take place after consulting with the Congress party High Command at appropriate time. He said that the state government has set a goal to make Himachal Pradesh a Green Energy State by 31 March, 2026, aiming to reduce carbon emissions. The initial phase of the Rs. 680 Crore Rajiv Gandhi Swarozgar Start-up Yojna has been launched, providing a 50 percent subsidy for e-taxi purchases, ensuring guaranteed income. He said that the Transport Department has received around 70 online applications so far, highlighting the positive reception to the subsidy-based start-up initiative. The second phase will introduce a scheme for the agricultural sector, he said.

MLAs Harish Janartha and Sudarshan Bablu, Political Advisor to the Chief Minister Sunil Sharma, Principal Advisor (Media) to the Chief Minister Naresh Chauhan and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion amongst others.

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Announces Rs 20 crore to lay underground electricity cables

Announces Chief Engineer's  HPSEB office in Hamirpur

A compensation of more than Rs. 14 crore today was distributed to the disaster-affected families of Hamirpur district under the 'Punrvaas' Scheme, by Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu at Hamirpur today. It is pertinent to mention here that the August Monsoons wreaked havoc in the State leading to the mass destruction of both public and private properties besides the loss of human lives.  He provided rupees three lakhs each as the first instalment to 122 families whose houses were completely damaged totaling Rs. 3.66 crore.

The Chief Minister also handed over land documents to two homeless families of the district and provided financial assistance of rupees one lakh each for the repair of 555 partially damaged houses, totalling Rs. 5.55 crore to all of them. Apart from this, he also provided a compensation amount of rupees one lakh each to the affected eight shop and dhaba owners. A sum of Rs 3.11 crore for the repair of 622 damaged cow sheds and financial assistance of Rs 50,000 each to 71 families, who lost their belongings in the disaster, was also disbursed by the Chief Minster.  

Apart from this, a total compensation of Rs 55 lakh at the rate of Rs 10 thousand per bigha was given in lieu of 1103 kanal of land eroded due to landslides and floods and Rs 35.20 lakh at the rate of Rs 4 thousand per bigha for the damage caused to the crops on 1760 kanal land. He also released an amount of rupees eight lakh to the cattle owners compensating for the death of their livestock.

Chief Minister announced to open Chief Engineer office of HPSEB in Hamirpur and to provide Rs. 20 crore for undergrounding the electricity cables of Hamirpur city directing to complete the work within one year. He also announced rupees two crores as the first installment for the construction of the Hamirpur bus stand and announced the construction of the hostel of Horticulture University in Neri to be constructed with an outlay of rupees three crore.

Reiterating the objective of the government for the uplifting the poor and needy, the Chief Minister said that he better understands the sufferings of common man and the poor and even because of financial constraints, the state government announced a special relief package of Rs. 4500 crore for the people affected due to the natural calamity, the worst of its kind.

"Despite having a debt burden of Rs. 75 thousand crore and liabilities of government employees worth Rs. 10 thousand crore, the state government has will help each family affected by the disaster", said Sh. Sukhu.

Taking the BJP leaders to task, the Chief Minister said that when a resolution was brought during the  recently concluded Assembly session to declare the Natural Calamity in the State as a National Disaster, the BJP MLAs in Vidhan Sabha gave a deaf year and didn't respond on the issue fearing their central leadership. The Chief Minister said that the Central Government imposed many restrictions on the state for implementing the old pension and added that Himachal Pradesh has a loan limit of Rs 6600 crore and the state government has so far taken a loan of Rs 4100 crore.

He reiterated that he had called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, but till date, no financial assistance has been received as a special relief package. The State Government has so far sent claims worth Rs 10 thousand crore to the Central Government, he added.

Bringing amendments in the relief manual for natural disasters, the government enhanced the compensation package for a completely damaged house more than five times from Rs. 1.30 lakh to Rs. 7 lakh. Apart from this, in case of partial damage to a kutcha house, the compensation has been increased by 25 times from Rs. 4000 to rupees one lakh and of partial damage to a pucca house the same has been increased by 15.5 times to rupees one lakh.

The compensation for damage to shops and dhabas has been increased four times from Rs. 25 thousand to rupees one lakh and for the damage caused to the cow shed has been increased from rupees three thousand to Rs. 50 thousand. The state government has increased the compensation amount of Rs. 2500 by 20 times and would provide assistance of Rs. 50 thousand for the loss of belongings to the tenants. The compensation on the death of milch and other animals has also been increased, he added.

He said that the compensation for the loss of agricultural and horticulture land has been increased from Rs. 3615 per bigha to Rs 10,000 per bigha and for the damage to crops has been increased eight times from Rs. 500 per bigha to Rs 4000. The financial assistance given for removing silt from agricultural and horticultural land has been increased from Rs 1384.61 per bigha to Rs 5000.

He said that the state government was making efforts to be self-reliant in the next four years and the most developed state in the country in 10 years. In a bid to generate its own resources, the revenue of Himachal Pradesh government was estimated to increase by Rs 1100 crore. The state government will get additional revenue of Rs 500 crore from the auction of liquor contracts, he said.

He said that the state government is going to fill the posts of 6000 teachers and more than 2000 Van Mitras. Along with this, 30 percent reservation will be provided to women in the upcoming police recruitment.

He said that the state government organized Revenue courts across the state on October 30 and 31, 2023, wherein out of 41,907 pending mutation cases, 31,105 were disposed off. Such courts will be again held on 1st and 2nd December, across the state, In this special court, pending mutation as well as partition cases will be disposed of on priority basis, he remarked. He said that the state government was trying to close the pending cases related to revenue by January 20.

The BJP government had closed its eyes on corruption during its regime, may it be police recruitment scam, mining scam of Rs 100 crore or cryptocurrency scam of Rs 2500 crore etc. They didn't take any action foreseeing corruption under their nose.   The Staff Selection Commission results were withheld after the present government exposed the recruitment racket.   The recruitment of postcodes 817 and 939 has been stuck in the court for the last several years. But due to the efforts of the state government, the hearing of these cases was expedited and the results of these codes will be declared soon.

He also handed over certificates to 4 orphan children and land documents to a landless orphan in district Hamirpur. He told that 252 children of the district have been adopted as Children of the State, out of which 105 children are up to 18 years of age and 147 children are in the age group of 18 to 27 years. The Chief Minister also provided tablets to 13 meritorious students of Hamirpur district under the Srinivas Ramanujan Digital Student Scheme.

Earlier, the Chief Minister also paid floral tributes to the statue of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi at Gandhi Chowk in Hamirpur.

MLA Inder Dutt Lakhanpal said that the BJP merely played politics during the disaster and did not support the resolution brought in the Assembly. He said that the present state government's special relief package of Rs 4500 crore for the disaster affected is an example for the entire country, whereas no help has been received from the Centre.

Sh. Lakhanpal presented a check of Rs 5 crore to the Chief Minister on behalf of Baba Balak Nath Trust for the disaster relief fund.

MLA Suresh Kumar said that there was a huge loss of life and property in the state during the disaster, due to which many families were badly affected. He congratulated the Chief Minister for providing capable leadership to Himachal Pradesh during the tragedy.

 MLA Ashish Sharma,  Political advisor to the Chief Minister Sunil Sharma, District Congress President and Chairman of Kangra Cooperative Bank Kuldeep Singh Pathania also spoke on the occasion. Chairman Kangra Central Cooperative Bank Kuldeep Singh Pathania also handed over a check of Rs 89 lakh to the Chief Minister for disaster relief. The Pensioners Association presented a check of Rs 71 thousand towards the Kosh.

Earlier, Deputy Commissioner Hemraj Bairwa welcomed the Chief Minister.

Chairman of Kangra Cooperative Primary Agriculture and Rural Development Bank, Ram Chandra Pathania, former MLA Manjeet Dogra, Congress leaders Dr. Pushpinder Verma and Abhishek Rana, were also present on the occasion amongst senior officers of the district.

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Announces smart class rooms in Portmore girls school

Lays foundation stone of girls hostel

Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu while presiding over the annual prize distribution function of the Portmore model Girls school here today said that foreseeing the challenges in education sector, particularly after the COVID era and surfacing modern digital technologies, the State Government mulls to bring reforms in the education sector to equip the children to keep pace with the changing digital trends.

He said that the 10 best performing schools at the State level and five schools each at district level would be selected for rewards. It has also been decided that the school authorities, together will the School Management Committee (SMC), will be authorized for selection of smart uniforms for the students. To ensure the overall individual development of the students and imparting quality education to them, the Rajiv Gandhi Day boarding schools were being opened in the State in a phased manner.

The Chief Minister also distributed 'Tablets' to 16 meritorious girl students under the Ramanujan Student Digital scheme. As many as 7520 Tablets will be distributed to the girl students in the state out of 10,540 identified meritorious students in this fiscal.

The Government has taken a serious note of vacancies of the teachers in most of the schools and will fill up the vacant posts in a phased manner, he remarked.   

As many as  4000 thousand orphan children have been adopted as the 'Children of the State' and the government was legally committed for their upbringing and providing them better education, said Sh. Sukhu. A special scheme will also be announced for the special children in the next budget so as to bring them in the mainstream. The Government is also providing a sum of Rs. 25 thousand to meritorious girl students for purchasing e-scooties and has launched the Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar Vidyarthi Rin (Loan) Yojna, under which, a loan amount of maximum Rs. 20 lakh on one percent interest will be given to the students.

In a bid for empowering women, the government was contemplating to increase the marriage age of the girls to 21 years for which legal formalities were being explored. He said that 30 percent reservation would be provided to the girls for recruitment in police department.

He also performed the foundation stone laying ceremony of the girls hostel to be constructed with an outlay of rupees five crore and announced starting smart classes in the school.

The Chief Minister also recalled and shared his student life memories and distributed prizes to the students on the occasion. He also presented rupees one lakh to the school for cultural performance.

Education Minister, Rohit Thakur said that Portmore was one of the oldest and a renowned school for the girls. He said that the focus of the government was to provide employment oriented education to the children. He thanked the Chief Minster for announcing rupees five crore for the girls hostel which will facilitate the girl students coming for far off places.

MLA, Harish Janartha, former CPS, Sohan Lal, Director Higher Education, Amarjit Sharma, Director Primary Education, Ashish Kohli and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.  

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Inaugurates Vidhya Samiksha Kendra

English medium govt schools from class one during next academic session

Chief Minister, Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, inaugurated the Vidhya Samiksha Kendra (VSK) in partnership with Conve Genius, an EdTech social enterprise from his official residence oak-over here today.

Speaking on the occasion the Chief Minister said "VSK powered by Swift Chat AI would enable technology and data-driven systemic change in all the schools of Himachal Pradesh. Through the integration of AI technology and governance, the children will be equipped with powerful visualizations to enhance decision-making capabilities and improve learning outcomes and will support all the students, teachers, and administrators with the right insights, content and updated information at the right time. VSK will also help to monitor the impact of all key programs from the phone".

The VSK would be hosting a range of conversational AI chatbots on Swift Chat which will act like digital buddies guiding students, assisting teachers, and providing valuable data for administrators. It will present dashboards and reports for districts, blocks, and individual schools. This real-time data will offer invaluable insights into student progress, teacher training and overall school performance. Teachers can now tweak their teaching strategies based on real-time feedback and remediation support, ensuring every student gets the attention they need to boost learning outcomes, he remarked.

 The Chief Minister said that innovative reforms and advanced technologies were being implemented in the education sector to meet out the future challenges and modern technology. He said that the previous government opened schools eyeing political gains but did not provided adequate facilities, due to which the quality level of education dipped. Because of this very reason, the state government denotified 900 schools.

Sh. Sukhu said that many reforms in education sector would be visible from the next academic session, for which cooperation of parents, teachers and students is necessary. He said that the primary responsibility of teachers today was to prepare the students for the future challenges. The Government intends to develop such an education system on which students studying in government schools will feel proud and equitable with the convent school kids. The state government has introduced new age courses like Artificial Intelligence and Data Learning in technical educational institutions.

The Chief Minister said that as promised in the congress Pratigya Patra” the government has fulfilled its third guarantee wherein English medium schools will be started from class first from the next academic session in government sector.

He said that the state government was opening Rajiv Gandhi Government Day-Boarding Schools to improve the quality of education and was also providing funds to complete the under-construction Atal Adarsh Schools. He said that for enhancing the capability the teachers would be sent abroad for exposure visits batch wise.

 Speaking at the occasion, the Education Minister Rohit Thakur said that VSK would not only strengthen the teaching-learning process but would also create a brighter future for every student in the state besides high standardization of education. He said that VSK will prove a milestone in this direction. The state government has also approved to fill the posts of 6000 teachers. Besides, the process of batch wise recruitment is also going on, he remarked.

 Shashank Pandey, President of the Conve Genius Group, said, “Our collaboration with Himachal VSK showcases the exciting potential of integrating conversational AI with education strategy. The vision is to make EdTech extremely swift, smart, and simple to foster meaningful learning experiences at the last mile and ensure sustainable impact in education.”

Earlier, Secretary Education Rakesh Kanwar welcomed the Chief Minister on the occasion and provided an insight into the project.

State Project Director Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan Rajesh Sharma presented a vote of thanks.

MLA Harish Janartha, Principal Advisor (Media) Naresh Chauhan, Political Advisor to the Chief Minister Sunil Sharma, Principal Private Secretary to the Chief Minister Vivek Bhatia and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion amongst others. 

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