The 50th anniversary of Himachal Pradesh’s statehood was today commemorated with great enthusiasm and fervour across the state.

The main state-level event celebrating the golden jubilee of HP’s statehood was held at the historic Ridge here while such functions marking the special occasion were also organised at all district headquarters in the state.

Addressing the golden jubilee function at the Ridge here, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda said that the Narendra Modi-led central government’s schemes such as Ayushman Bharat and Ujjwala have far reaching effects, which have benefited women and the poor.

Nadda said the Ujjwala scheme had led to women empowerment as earlier rural women had to work hard to fetch fuel wood for cooking, which also used to have adverse impact on their health.

Similarly, the beneficiaries of the Ayushman Bharat scheme, under which over 10 crore poor families were getting benefits upto Rs 5 lakh for medical treatment, can avail free treatment in any hospital in the country, he said.

Nadda also lauded the efforts of HP chief minister Jai Ram Thakur for launching the Grihini Suvidha scheme to provide benefits to women, who were left out of the ambit of the Ujjwala scheme, and also the Himcare scheme launched to provide medical cover to poor people.

The BJP chief said the people of the state were fortunate to witness the golden jubilee celebrations of HP’s statehood.

The development journey of Himachal Pradesh was “quiet difficult and arduous” but successive dispensations and hardworking people of the state turned these challenges into opportunities.

Nadda also said that HP has made rapid strides in various spheres over the years. He said the contribution of the state’s first CM Dr Y S Parmar were immense and similar were the contributions of former CMs like

Virbhadra Singh, Shanta Kumar, Thakur Ram Lal and Prem Kumar Dhumal, who ensured that the state could move ahead on the path of progress and prosperity.

Shanta Kumar made remarkable contribution in providing drinking water whereas the contributions of Prem Kumar Dhumal were significant in providing road connectivity, he said.

“Today, the state could boast of six medical colleges, an AIIMS, PGI satellite centre and super specialty hospital. The special category state status had again been given to the state by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the work of Atal Tunnel was completed due to his special interest and assistance,” Nadda added. He also appreciated the welfare schemes launched by the BJP-led state government and said that HP was poised to become the most developed state of the country.

Addressing the function, the CM lauded the efforts of the ex-CMs who, despite the hill state’s geographical and other constraints, steered it and enabled it to emerge as a front runner on many development parameters in the country.

Jai Ram said whatever the state has achieved today was due to efforts and cooperation of its hardworking and honest people. “Himachal started its development journey from a scratch and the development achieved during the last 50 years was inspiring for not only hilly states but also for other big states as well,” he said.

HP was fortunate to have blessings of former PM late Atal Bihari Vajpayee as well as PM Modi, the CM said.

HP Governor Bandaru Dattatraya, Union minister of state for finance Anurag Thakur, Leader of the Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri, cabinet ministers, MLAs and people from various walks of life were also present at the function.