A NEW ERA OF DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESS -Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal Chief Minister, Himachal Pradesh

25th JANUARY, 2008

We, the people of Himachal Pradesh celebrate the 25th January with utmost reverence. It was on this historic day, in 1971 that our State was granted full Statehood status as the 18th State of the Indian Union. With this, the State and its people got opportunity to shape their own destiny. On this historic and joyous occasion, I extend my heartiest felicitations to the people of the State. I also express my gratitude to the great leaders, who strived hard to ensure that the State gets its separate identity and structure.

On this auspicious occasion, we also pay our homage to Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar, the Founder and the first Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, who apart from spearheading the struggle for attaining full Statehood, laid sound foundation for the future development of the State.  Himachal Pradesh has not only undergone different stages of social transformation, but has also seen constant growth in its size and status. The State passed through various vicissitudes of fortune but due to the persistent efforts of its people the State witnessed a meteorological rise to an 'Ideal State' status. 

My Government took over the reins of the State only a few days back, and soon after assuming office, my Government took a policy decision to adopt the Election Manifesto of the Party as 'Policy Document'. I express my gratitude to the people of the State for giving massive mendate to Bhartiya Janta Party. I also thank the Election commission for conducting elections in a peaceful, free and fair manner. The election results have judiciously proved that our democratic system is great in itself and is a matter of pride for all of us. The peaceful accomplishment of elections in this beautiful hilly State is indicative of the fact that our people are peace loving for this once again I thank the people of the State. It was for the first time that electoral process was completed in all the assembly segments in the State including the  three tribal segments, simultaneously. These elections brought your own Government to power in the State, thereby, providing an opportunity to give renewed momentum to the development and welfare of the people which has come to a grinding halt during the regime of the previous Government. I assure you all, that the State would witness the dawn of  a new era of development with uniform and balanced development of every section of the society.

There is no limit to progress and development. Keeping this in mind we have designed our policies in a manner which would maintain our efforts for balanced development of the State.  The Government is committed to provide efficient, clean and transparent administration by rising above all political considerations. Soon after assuming power, the present Government decided to set up Public Redressal Cells in all the public service oriented departments, right from the grass root level. The State Government would ensure that under no circumstances, guilty would be allowed to go scot-free, whereas innocent would not be harassed.
The State Government would accord top priority to improve basic amenities such as road, water, education, health and social welfare programmes.  The State Government is committed to cater to the welfare needs of the under privileged, mentally and physically challenged children and provide them all possible help to enable them to lead socially and economically secure life.  The State Government has also decided to fill up three percent of posts in the H.P. Administrative Services-2008 from handicapped persons category so as to ensure their participation in the development process. Social welfare would be on the priority agenda of the State Government and every programme would be aimed at the socio economic upliftment of the downtrodden.  With an aim to bring about a substantial change in the life style of the people and to strengthen their economic base, the State Government has taken significant decisions by increasing the daily wages of workers from Rs. 75 to Rs. 100  benefiting 5 lakh families and Social Security Pensions from Rs. 200 to Rs. 300 benefiting 2,37,250  Social Security Pension holders. This will involve an additional annual expenditure of Rs. 30 crore.

Women constitute nearly half the population of the State and are the major contributor towards development of any society. The State Government is particularly and specifically intended to make efforts  for empowerment of women . In view of this, fifty percent reservation would be given to them in Panchayati Raj institutions and local bodies so as to provide them equal opportunities  in planning and developmental process of the State. Working women hostels would be constructed in all the district headquarters. The State Government has announced gazetted holidays on 'Raksha Bandhan' and 'Bhaiyaduj' for all working women in the State, besides, providing them free transport facilities on these days in the  HRTC bus services across the State.  The State Government is also committed to formation of a Society which works without any prejudice and pre-conceived consideration.

Empowering the youth is yet another area where the State Government would like to concentrate. The Government will  formulate  a plan to ensure active participation of youth in fully harnessing their potential for the development of the State.  Recruitment process would be made more simple getting applicants rid of the burden of certificates and other supporting documents required at the initial stage of recruitments.   The Government would also ensure that the Himachali unemployed youth are provided atleast 70 per cent employment in all the industrial and other projects and a Monitoring Cell would be established in the Chief Minister's office to monitor its compliance.  The unemployed youth would be provided professional training and job orientated programmes through various Vocational and Technical Training Institutions.

Welfare of farmers and fruit growers would  remain dear to the State Government. Major crops and fruits would  be brought under agriculture insurance scheme.  Adequate steps would be taken to protect crops from wild animals.  Seeds, fertilizers and chemicals would be made available in time, besides ensuring their quality.  The Government has also decided to increase the support prices of citrus fruits by 50 paise per kg. to ensure remunerative prices to fruit growers of the State. Steps will be taken to protect crops from stray animals too. The ever increasing numbers of cows amongst stray animals is indeed a matter of great concern for all of us.  My Government would  protect and develop milch cattle with active co-operation from Panchayats, NGOs, Voluntary Organizations and general masses. 

 Our Government would encourage to construct Gau-Sadans all over the State and tagging of domestic animals would be carried after their enumeration to ascertain their identity and strict action would be taken against owners who left their animals astray. The services of unemployed youths would also be utilized for enumeration, tagging and capturing monkeys . Sterilization of monkeys would be carried out and impact of the steps would be visible in coming time.

The State has immense potential for off-season vegetables, cash crops, floriculture and mushroom cultivation and the Government would prepare a plan to improve and strengthen economic conditions of farmer community by giving adequate boost to these sectors. The State also has rich bio-diversity and as per an estimate thousands of crores worth herbal potential is available in the State. The State Government would impart training to farmers for cultivation of herbal crops. 

The hydro power is emerging as a powerful mechanism for speedier economic growth and overall development of the State. As a source of energy, hydro-power is economically viable and non-polluting and is environmentally sustainable. The State Government would also set up Hydro Power Project Training Institute to impart training to the unemployed youth of the State in Hydro Power Generation by forming Cooperatives for execution of Mini Power Projects. Apart from establishing these projects, environmental conservation and   proper rehabilitation of oustees would be ensured.  In the field of education and health, apart from development, my government would give special emphasis on quality services. The Government has also decided to invite open tenders for execution of hydro-electric projects above 5 MW capacity for healthy competition and procuring maximum 'Upfront Premium' from the power project executors by maintaining transparency in the process and Himachali youth would be given preference in allotment of hydel-projects upto 5 MW capacity. By giving new momentum to power generation, my government would make Himachal Pradesh the best State of the Country. 

Industrialization is a step towards modernization and creating ample employment opportunities. The Industrial package for industrial development of the State has been limited upto 2010. My Government will strongly take up the matter with the Union Government to extend it upto 2013. The State Government would encourage setting up of Special Economic Zones in the State, but fertile land of the farmers would not be acquired for the same. A new Industrial Policy would be formulated wherein stress would be laid on providing various incentives to the entrepreneurs besides providing basic amenities such as roads, power, water etc. in the industrial areas. The State Government would encourage formation of separate clusters of various categories of industries and bio and herbal farming would be encouraged in order to provide boost to agriculture sector.

Apart from proper maintenance of National and State Highways, my Government will take effective steps to develop and construct rural roads.  The State Government would ensure that every village has road connectivity and every household gets potable drinking water. All the village paths would be metalled under the Chief Minister's Gram Path Yojana. The State Government has requested the Centre to introduce two Shatabdi trains to Himachal Pradesh in the next railway budget as it would increase the tourist influx in the State besides benefiting local residents for availing fastest   railways services in the country. The Centre Government has also been requested to start work on Baddi-Chandigarh and Bhanupalli- Bilaspur –Beri railway line on fast track speed so as to complete it in 11^th Five Year Plan.

The State Government is fully aware of the needs of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other Back-ward Classes, small farmers, horticulturists, businessmen, Government employees and workers.  We want to prepare short-term and long-term policies for protecting their rights and strengthen their socio-economic conditions.

Endowed with natural beauty, Himachal Pradesh is indeed a paradise for tourists. Lush green valleys, snow covered Himalayan ranges, serene, peaceful, hospitable and comfortable environment and rich cultural heritage are some of the attractions which the tourists can hardly find elsewhere. The Government would encourage heritage, religious, rural and adventure tourism. For this, a master plan would be formulated.

Government employees are the backbone of any  Government as they act as source of implementing policies and programmes of the State Government in right perspective. The co-operation of employees is always expected for the service of the people and development of the State. The administration would be made more active, functional, dedicated and sensitive to the development of the State and welfare of the people at all levels.  The State Government is also committed to implement the recommendations of 6^th Pay Commission to benefit the employees. Similarly, cordial  relation would be maintained with the employees by ensuring various benefits to them from time to time.

The hard working, diligent and simple people of the State are the real asset who have always been an equal partner in the process of development at every level.  Uniform and balanced development of all areas and sections and strengthening of emotional bonds would be the priority of the present Government. Any welfare State hones its strategy with one eye on the past and present and another on the future, and the State Government is poised to make Himachal Pradesh a Model of Development and thereby become a mirror for other States of the Country.

More than 90 per cent of our population lives in rural areas, thus all our policies and programmes would be aimed at development of these areas. National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme would be implemented in all the remaining districts as well from 1^st April, 2008 which would ensure a minimum of 100 days employment to the rural employment card holder person in a calendar year. This programme would also be instrumental in strengthening the economy of the rural poor.

The State Government has inherited huge debts to the tune of over Rs. 22000 crore as a financial legacy from the previous  Government. My government would put more emphasis on financial discipline and would drastically cut down unproductive expenses so that adequate funds could be made available for development works. The State Government would strive hard to strengthen the economy with more stress on resource mobilization. The State's Eleventh Five Year Plan has been approved by the Planning Commission at Rs.13778 crore. The Annual Plan of Rs.2400 crore which is 14.3 % higher for the financial year 2008-09 has been proposed to the Planning Commission.  

I once again felicitate the people of the State on this auspicious occasion and reaffirm the resolution of the State Government to come up to the expectations and aspirations of the people. We assure the people of the  State that we would work with full dedication and commitment to make Himachal Pradesh the most prosperous State of the country as for us governance is only means of service.