Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday said the government is committed towards the welfare of the serving soldiers, ex-servicemen and their families.

Himachal Pradesh government had initiated several schemes for their welfare as a token of respect for the services rendered by them for the cause of the nation, he said after performing bhoomi pujan of the Shaheed Samarak and Park to be constructed at Bilaspur.

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Earlier, the CM paid floral tributes to the Martyrs on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas. Thakur said as many as 52 brave sons of the state laid down their lives in the service of the nation in the Kargil war, out of which seven were from Bilaspur district.

“Out of the four Param Vir Chakras conferred on Armed forces personnel during the Kargil war, two were given to the brave sons of HP,” he said, adding this speaks of the valour and bravery of the soldiers of Himachal.

The CM said it becomes duty of each one of us to not let the supreme sacrifices of these great sons of soil go wasted.“We are safe and secure today because of the vigil and sacrifice of our soldiers guarding our frontiers,” he said. He said that the country was safe and secure under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and PM’s was acknowledged universally as the world leader due to his popularity.

He said that the government had succeeded in getting Central assistance worth Rs 6,000 crore due to the benevolence of PM Modi and the government was working with a single motto of making Himachal the most developed state of the country.

The CM said that that work on four lane of Kiratpur to Manali road would be expedited and efforts would be made to develop Bilaspur from tourism point of view.

He announced that the office of Chief Conservator Fire would be restored at Bilaspur which was shifted by the previous state government.

He announced that Rs 11000 would be contributed by every Minister and Rs 5100 by every BJP MLA for construction of the Shaeehad Saamarak.

Transport and Forest Minister Govind Thakur, MLAs Rajinder Garg, J R Katwal, Subash Thakur, Former MP Suresh Chandel, Former MLA Randhir Sharma, Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Sanjay Kundu, ex-servicemen and other people from different walks of life joined the Chief Minister in paying floral tributes to the Kargil martyrs.