Himachal Pradesh Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Thursday said the state is again on the path of development after facing the difficult challenges of the Covid pandemic and he was also making efforts to establish this hilly region as a model state.

The Governor made these remarks during the Governors’ Conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi in which President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah were also present.

Arlekar stated that despite the difficult geographical conditions, Himachal had become the first state in the country to inoculate the first dose of Covid vaccination.

“Tourism activities are being promoted in the state by organizing fairs based on the specialty of each district. This would also provide a platform and market to the local products, realising PM’s vision of ‘Vocal for Local’.

Besides, this cleanliness and environmental protection are among his top priorities,” he added.

He further stated that in order to make the working of Raj Bhavan transparent, fast and smooth, an e-office facility had been started with effect from 22 October.

Besides this, effective steps were being taken to provide quality education in higher education institutions including complete implementation of the National Education Policy.

Speaking about the ‘Har Ghar Pathshala’ programme of the state government, the Governor said Himachal had started this unique programme from April 2020 to continue smooth education of the students during the lockdown that benefited about 8 lakhs students.

“Immense progress has been made in natural farming in the state and more than 1.5 lakh farmers have adopted natural farming under Subhash Palekar Prakritik Kheti. These agricultural activities are being carried on 1.2 lakh bighas of land in the state.

The Raj Bhavan is fully active for humanitarian activities through organizations like Red Cross who are making every possible effort to help the needy.

Apart from this, the State Red Cross is developing an ultra-modern blood bank in Nalagarh along with the district administration and Indian Red Cross which will be made functional soon,” he added.

He also raised the issue of drug smuggling and substance consumption and stated that work is being done at every level to curb this menace.

“As a Governor, it would be his endeavour that the benefits of various schemes of the Central and state governments reach the people directly and they are also benefited out of them.

“In a short span of about four months, he has tried to give direction to the society by targeting various projects of social concern in Himachal,” he added.