Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Tuesday directed officers to address the different issues taken up by the public representatives besides considering their valuable suggestions on priority.

He gave these directions while presiding over the meeting with the MLAs of Kangra and Kinnaur districts in the first session of the second day for finalization of priorities for the Budget 2022-23.

He stated that Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of various projects should be completed in a time-bound manner.

This meeting was of utmost importance as the MLAs get an opportunity to prioritize their priorities and also give their valuable suggestions for the Budget, he added.

The Chief Minister said that the present government during the last four years has ensured that every area of the state and every section of the society gets the benefits of welfare and developmental schemes initiated by the HP government. Despite the pandemic, the government laid special focus on strengthening the health infrastructure in the state and there were only two oxygen plants but today there were 48 oxygen plants in different parts of the state.

“Several schemes have been initiated to ensure that the weaker sections of the society were not deprived of better healthcare for want of funds. Under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, 4.26 lakh families have been registered and 1.20 lakh people have been provided free treatment worth Rs 145 crore. Under the Chief Minister, HIMCARE Yojna 5.13 lakh families have been registered and 2.20 lakh families have been provided financial benefits of about Rs 200 crore.

Under the Ujjwala Yojna of the Centre and Grihini Suvidha Yojna of the state government, more than 4.69 lakh families of the state have been provided with free gas connections worth Rs 141.71 crore,” he added.

He further stated that the state government was laying special focus on MLAs priorities and a provision of Rs 2,363.80 crore was made for the implementation of MLAs priority schemes in the five years of the previous government’s tenure, whereas the present government has made a provision of Rs 3,183.37 crore in the first four years itself.

Deputy Chairman State Planning Board Ramesh Chand Dhawala urged the Chief Minister to open a Sub-Depot of HRTC at Jawalamukhi. He also urged to use unspent money to construct a stadium at Kathog and grant adequate funds must be utilized under the ‘Vikas Main Jan Sahyog’ scheme.