Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the Himachal Pradesh government would explore the possibilities of conducting Students Central Association (SCA) elections in Himachal Pradesh University (HPU).

Discussions were being held with the university authorities in this regard, he said while inaugurating a two-day ‘Maitree’ programme of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) Alumni (Decadal Chapter of 90s) here on Saturday.

He inaugurated the International Chapter of ‘Maitree’.

The direct elections of SCA were banned in 2014 in the wake of spurt of violent incidents.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister recalled his university days, which helped him build the edifice of his political career.

“The state government is working to make Himachal a self-reliant state and numerous steps are being taken to improve the quality of education in all the government-run institutions,” he said.

The government has initiated English medium in government schools starting from class one. Apart from this, Rajiv Gandhi Day Boarding Schools were coming up in all 68 assembly constituencies of the state in a phased manner which would provide state-of-the-art facilities to the students.

He said the government is considering to bringing innovative changes in the higher education sector based on modern teaching technologies so that every student could derive maximum benefit out of it.

He exhorted the students be noble and responsible citizens of the country and always be good to others. Keeping in mind to make Himachal Pradesh economically stable, the Government has adopted zero-tolerance towards corruption.

“When we came to power, the economic condition of the state was in a complete mess because of the huge debt burden inherited from the previous government and we had to take some tough decisions to bring back the derailed economy on track by generating income from the existing resources. We have set a target to make Himachal Pradesh the most prosperous state by the year 2032,” he said.

The chief minister also detailed about the Mukhya Mantri Sukh Aashray, stating that 4000 orphan children have been adopted as ‘Children of the State’ and the entire responsibility of their education has being taken by the State Government. A Center of Excellence would be constructed in Tikri of Kandaghat area in District Solan to provide education to about 300 Divyangjans, he remarked.

He also announced to provide rupees two crore to the alumni Association for construction their building.

He also released three books – ‘Juni’ by senior journalist Sanjeev Sharma, ‘Main Aur Meri HP University’ and ‘Yadein Buransh Ki’. He also gave away free lifetime membership certificates of HPU alumni to four specially-abled students.

MLA Satpal Singh Satti, recalling university days said that though they had different ideologies but Sukhu was his good friend and both of them learnt the political traits from this prestigious institution.

As of today, about 25 student leaders of the university were the members of the present Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

He added that many people including Union Minister JP Nadda and former Union Minister Anand Sharma earned fame by achieving great heights in their respective fields.

Earlier, President of Alumni Association Prof. Chandramohan Parshira welcomed the Chief Minister and said that the association would adopt Neri of Shimla district for its overall development.