In order to strengthen road connectivity to the remote area Dodra-Kwar in the Shimla district, the Himachal Pradesh government will be conducting a survey for the construction of the Dodra-Kwar and Kotkhai- Hatkoti Tunnel.

This was stated by Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu while addressing a public gathering on Friday during his maiden visit to Rohru of the Shimla district after assuming the office of the chief minister.

He said that surveys would be conducted for the construction of Kotkhai-Hatkoti underneath Kharapatthar and Dodra-Kwar tunnels, which would go a long way in facilitating the people of these areas.

He said that efforts would be made to connect Kwar with Uttarakhand and announced to open Adarsh Health Institute in Rohru.

The chief minister reiterated that the exploitation of apple orchardists by middlemen would not be tolerated.

“A provision of Rs 100 crore has been made in the current budget for setting up 10 Cold Atmosphere (CA) stores in the state and tendering process is underway. Measures are also being taken to ensure remunerative prices for rotten apples to the growers,” he said.

The present Congress Government has fulfilled its promise as made in its election manifesto of providing the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) to government employees and efforts were being made to get back approximately Rs.9000 crore of National Pension Scheme (NPS), as deposited with the central government, said the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister said that the state government has launched Sukh-Ashray Yojana for 6000 orphan children and will provide all support to them until they reach the age of 27 years.

He emphasized for coordinated efforts to make Himachal Pradesh a Green Energy State, adding that the present government was meticulously working in this direction to meet the target of Green and Clean State by March 2026.

The State government is taking significant steps to revamp the system and financial discipline was being ensured, he said and the paucity of funds would not be a hindrance in the path of development.

Earlier, the Chief Minister was accorded a warm welcome by the local residents on his arrival at Rohru.

Education Minister Rohit Thakur claimed that Himachal Pradesh did not receive any assistance from the Central Government in the past five years thereby pushing the state into a financial debacle.

He lauded the efforts of the Chief Minister for giving sanctions to fill up 6000 posts of teachers in the education department which would go a long way in meeting the shortage of teachers.