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Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhu lays foundation stones of projects worth Rs 108 crore in Hamirpur's Nadaun
Nadaun: Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu laid the foundation stone of four projects worth Rs 108 crore in the Nadaun assembly constituency of Hamirpur district on Wednesday.
CM Sukhu laid the foundation stone of a project aimed at supplying a 24-hour drinking water facility to Nadaun city that would be equipped with state-of-the-art UV filter technology. Benefiting the residents of all seven wards of Nagar Panchayat Nadaun, this project is to cost Rs 44.66 crore and will be completed before summer this year. He laid the foundation stone for the Hotel of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation to be built in Nadaun with an outlay of Rs 43.06 crore, to be completed by July 2025. The Chief Minister also performed the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the rest house of the Jal Shakti Department at Gagaal, which cost Rs 6.54 crore and the Rs 14.02 crore Model Career and Skill Centre at Jalari, which is to be made functional by June 2025.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the function, the Chief Minister took a jab at the central party and said that the BJP failed in its role of constructive opposition and indulged in cheap politics, ignoring the interests of the people of the state. He said that neither the state BJP leaders nor the BJP Member of Parliament from the state MP met Prime Minister Narendra Modi or other central leaders to seek financial assistance for the disaster-hit Himachal Pradesh. Not only this, the state government has sent claims of around Rs 10,000 crore to the central government, which were supposed to be provided in December, but the BJP leaders are creating hurdles in getting the amount released. "I appeal to the BJP leaders not to make false claims of getting special financial assistance from the centre to misguide the people and also not to create hurdles in the way of the government for getting financial assistance from the centre," remarked CM Sukhu.
"If the Central Government has given any special economic package to Himachal Pradesh in connection with the disaster, then the BJP leaders should provide details of the same," he pointed out. He said that when a resolution was brought to the Assembly to declare the natural calamity in Himachal Pradesh a 'National Disaster', the BJP MLAs opposed it, ignoring the sorrow of the people of the State.
On the question of the allotment of departments to the newly appointed ministers, Sukhu said that the ministers from whom the departments have been taken will be given the newly created departments. He said that some new departments, such as the Infrastructure Department and Artificial Intelligence, would be created in the future and would be allotted to the ministers. He said that the central government undertakings were opposing the water cess levied by the state government on its hydroelectric projects. Along with this, Rs 4300 crore of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) has been lying with the Central Government for many years and has not been released yet. It is pertinent to mention here that the interests of Himachal Pradesh were not kept in mind and the previous BJP government gave Luhri, Sunni and Dhaula-Siddh hydropower projects to SJVN on easy terms.
Earlier, the Chief Minister heard the grievances of the people at Sera Rest House and directed the officials to resolve them soon.
MLA Sanjay Rattan, President Kangra Co-operative Primary Agriculture and Rural Development Bank, Ram Chandra Pathania, Coordinator State Skill Development Corporation Atul Karohta, Congress leader Surinder Mankotia, Nadaun Block Congress President Captain Prithvi Chand, and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.