Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, on Tuesday, lashed out at the Opposition for criticising the historic decisions taken by the state government towards welfare and progress of the state and its people calling it “a bundle of futile efforts to mislead”.
Thakur was addressing a gathering at Silh under Jawalaji Assembly Constituency on the occasion of celebrations of 75 years of existence of Himachal Pradesh.
Dismissing the allegations of the Opposition as baseless, the Chief Minister said the state has excelled in various sectors under the benevolence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The Prime Minister provided not only the special assistance of Rs 800 crore but also restored special category status of the state in central funding with 90:10 ratio for all central projects”, he said.
Thakur went on to applaud the Central Government and said, “This is a proud moment for the people of the state that the Prime Minister has visited Himachal Pradesh seven times during the tenure of the present government. The Prime Minister has special affection for the State and its people.”
”The state has made unmatched progress in all spheres of development. The literacy rate which was only 4.8 per cent at the time of formation of Himachal Pradesh has today gone up to 83 percent,” he said, adding that that road length has gone from 288 kms in 1948 to 39,500 kms and the number of health institutions from 88 in the year 1948 to 4320 today.
There were only 301 educational institutions in the state at the time of its formation, whereas today the number has gone up to 16,124, he added.
On the demand of opening of the HRTC sub depot at Khundian, the Chief Minister said the process of completing the formalities is in progress.