Himachal Pradesh Education Minister Rohit Thakur on Saturday participated in a program organised on the occasion of the 76th Himachal Day at the Ridge Maidan in the capital Shimla.

On the occasion, Education Minister hoisted the tricolour and inspected the parade.

The cultural programs were also presented by the students of various schools. Along with this, people were also made aware of the hazardous effects of drug consumption through street plays by the students.

Addressing the gathering at the occasion, Rohit Thakur, the Education Minister said, “Himachal came into existence on this day and Himachal Day is being celebrated with great enthusiasm in the entire state.”

“From coming into existence till now, many new dimensions have been established in the development of Himachal Pradesh and in the coming times also Himachal will be on the path of development,” he added.

Talking about the celebration at Kaza of Lahaul-Spiti, Thakur said, “The state-level Himachal Day program is being celebrated in Kaza of Lahaul-Spiti, the most remote area of the state, where the Chief Minister himself has participated.”

He said, “Congress government believes in the development of Himachal Pradesh. The state is on the path of continuous development ever since it came into existence. Where earlier there used to be nearly 200 educational institutions in the state, now their number has increased to more than 15000.”

Highlighting the increased number of colleges in the state, Education Minister said, “The number of colleges has also increased a lot and in the coming times also the priority of the government will be to fulfil the basic needs of the state.”

“Efforts are being made to promote tourism with the construction of tunnels in the state and the Chief Minister has announced to make Kangra the tourism capital, apart from this, work is also being done on building a heliport with the rapid progress of the four-line project of roads in the state,” he added.

Hitting out at Bharatiya Janata Party, Thakur said, “CM Sukhu is moving forward with new thinking, although the state has been drowned in debt by the previous government. BJP, which used to sing the tune of the double engine, has left a debt of 75 thousand crores and liabilities of 11 thousand crores in the state.”

“Despite this, the government’s effort will be to make the state self-reliant and bring it out of the cycle of debt and the government will work on increasing the sources of income, he added.

Thakur said, “Himachal has emerged as an ideal state, in which Dr Yashwant Parmar and Indira Gandhi also played a major role. The development journey of Himachal was long and full of difficulties because it is a hilly state, but today Himachal is considered an ideal state. The standards of development in areas like education, health, roads, tourism, agriculture and horticulture show in which direction we are moving forward.”

Further talking about the priorities of the state government, Thakur said, “The priority of the present government would be that every area of the state should be developed with the help of technology so that it would be successful in making the economy of the state prosperous.”

“The present government is committed towards development in every area of the state”, he added.

On being asked about the Shimla Municipal Corporation Elections, Thakur said, “The Congress party will finalize all candidates for polls by tomorrow and the party will win elections of the oldest Municipal corporation of the country.”

On this occasion, martyr soldier Kulbhushan Manta (from Kupvi district Shimla) who was martyred while serving the Indian Army in 2022 was also honoured.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Mohan Lal Brakta, MLA Shimla Urban Harish Janartha, former MLA Harbhajan Singh Bhajji, and Deputy Commissioner Shimla Aditya Negi were also present on the occasion.