Himachal Pradesh Governor Bandaru Dattatreya on Tuesday said the State Government has fulfilled most of its poll promises also also expressed the State Government’s support to the Centre on the new citizenship law and nullification of Article 370.
In his two-hour address that marked the opening of the assembly’s Budget session, Dattatreya also welcomed the Supreme Court’s Ayodhya verdict that has paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple.
Dattatreya said a single Constitution is now in force after the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370, bringing the entire nation from Kashmir to Kanyakumari under one tricolour. “This became possible only because of the guidance of a strong leadership in the country,” he said,” reflecting the views of the two-year-old BJP government in the state.
“My government endorses these decisions and congratulates the Centre for taking these unprecedented decisions,” he said.
The Governor listed out the policies and programmes of the Jai Ram Thakur Government, saying it has lived up to the promises made during the assembly polls. He said the Centre has sanctioned to the state 327 schemes amounting to Rs 2,896 crore under ''Jal Jeevan Mission'' on drinking water.
Dattatreya said Rs 597 crore has been disbursed till January 21 among the 8.46 lakh farmers in the state under the centrally sponsored ‘PM Kisan Samman Nidhi''. The State Government has provided free gas connections to 2.76 lakh families under the Himachal Grihini Suvidha Yojna, he said. No eligible family which had applied up to December 2019 is left out, he said.
On the Global Investor Meet in Dharamshala in November, he claimed the state government signed 736 MoUs worth Rs 97,700 crore and these could provide employment to 1.96 lakh youths. In the current financial year, 67 more villages have been connected by road, the Governor said.The state now has 37,374 km of motorable roads.
An MoU has been signed with the Airports Authority of India to develop an airport in Mandi district, he said. The state archives digitised 16.91 lakh pages of ancient manuscripts and other archival material, he added.
VIPIN PARMAR TO BE NEW SPEAKER
Himachal Pradesh Health Minister Vipin Parmar is set to be appointed as the new Speaker of the State Assembly after becoming the only candidate on Tuesday to file the nomination paper for the post.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur proposed his nomination as the BJP candidate for the post. The notice was seconded by Nahan MLA and former speaker Rajeev Bindal.
Bindal, who quit the Speaker's post on January 16, was later elected as the State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president.
The opposition Congress did not file any nomination for the post as it has only 21 members in the 68-member House. The ruling BJP has a total of 44 MLAs whereas the CPI(M) has a lone MLA. Two independent MLAs are supporting the BJP.
Parmar is a law graduate and MLA from Sullah assembly constituency. He was elected to the State Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1998. He was re-elected as MLA in 2007 and 2017. He was inducted into the Council of Ministers as Health Minister along with the portfolios of Medical Education, Ayurveda and Science and Technology on December 27, 2017.
He was acting secretary of state Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and secretary of national ABVP