Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Tuesday hailed the Union Budget that was presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and said it will give new impetus to development with focus on welfare of farmers and weaker sections of the society.

Thakur said that the budget would strengthen the developmental infrastructure and at the same time make effective use of digital technology for ensuring holistic and inclusive development process.

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The budget would prove to be an important document in the direction of making the entire country as well as all the states self-reliant and self-sufficient.

It will speed up the construction of roads, railways, airports, ports, public transport system, waterways etc and would also provide pace to development of these sectors in Himachal Pradesh under PM Gatishakti scheme.

In order to increase capital expenditure, additional central assistance to the states has been enhanced by Rs 5,000 crore during the current financial year, out of which Rs 600 crore has been approved by the Union government for the state, he added.

He stated that the Union government has decided to increase this assistance to the states by 10 times to Rs 1 lakh crore during the year 2022-23.

Himachal Pradesh would also benefit from this, as the central assistance would also increase substantially in the coming financial year. Through this assistance, the state government will be given impetus in the implementation of capital works.

The budget also emphasises promoting zero budget natural farming which will give more boost to natural farming in Himachal and a provision of Rs 60,000 crore has been made for 2022-23 under the Jal Jeevan Mission. The step will help Himachal to supply drinking water through pipes to all rural households of the state by July 2022, the CM said.

He welcomed the proposal of starting a new scheme ‘Vibrant Village’ for rural areas adjoining the international border and said it would ensure development of the border areas of the state.

He also thanked the Union Finance Minister for starting a new scheme Parvatmala for the construction of ropeways in the hill states with the assistance of the Central government.

The state government has taken up this issue with the Union Finance Minister recently.

He has welcomed the announcement of the Finance Minister in this budget to start a special facility to speed up grant of forest clearances and stated that this would pave the way for early start of development schemes pending due to forest clearances in the state.

“The budget presented for 2022-23 is a document for the next 25 years which would ensure acceleration of development in the coming years in such a way that no one is deprived of its benefits and ensure participation of all areas of the country in the process of development,” he added.