Himachal CM urges youth to contribute towards environmental conservation

Himachal is a state that has come a long way and made steady progress since its inception. It is also one of the progressive hill states, however, even the hill state faces certain challenges.

We posed some of the questions to the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, Jai Ram Thakur, who is a five-time MLA from Seraj constituency in Mandi and took oath as 14th Chief Minister of Himachal on 27th December 2017.

We talk about the scourge of unemployment, drug menace slowly engulfing & the measures to sustain the rarity of ever pleasant & lush green surroundings in the state of Himachal Pradesh.

Q. We see a lot of youth from Himachal Pradesh moving out of the state to seek employment. There are industries on the periphery but not in the hinterland, not enough to satisfy the job needs of a majority. What are the steps that your government plans to take help to absolve the problem of unemployment in this scenario?

A. Well yes, there's a scourge of unemployment almost everywhere and in Himachal as well. Although we got an industrial package when Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister of India, it did not last long. When the industrial package was in vogue swathes of Industries came and were established but the termination of the package caused a setback. Nevertheless, it's a given that the problem of unemployment is real. If you talk about unemployment in Government sector then I must tell you that we are making a continuous and dogged effort by talking about this pertinent issue in every cabinet meeting to generate posts and a number of posts have already been sanctioned, the process of recruitment is in motion. However, in the Industrial sector, there's a limited scope. Although there also we've tried to resolve the issue pertaining to industrial policy; there's a positive change but I don't claim that it would bring a significant large-scale change, so soon. So we are trying to revive growth & opportunities in our major sectors already prevalent like – Agriculture, Horticulture & tourism etc. It's not viable to satisfy the scourge of youth emanating from unemployment from Government sector jobs only. Therefore, it's been our endeavour to help boost employment in these sectors by creating entrepreneurs.

Q. Well, it's kind of known that drugs are easily available in Kangra, Mandi, and Solan and can wreak havoc in the state. What are the steps taken so far to deal with this menace? What is the long-term strategy to eradicate drug abuse in the state?

A. For a long time now, we have been at it to find solutions and ways to deal with this problem. Relatively, if you see, the figures and reports show it's not that bad when compared to other states. Nevertheless, the figures are growing and it's a pressing issue that has warranted our immediate attention.

We have taken two major steps so far: one is that we have become stringent with the personnel and functioning of internal surveillance and intelligence agencies owing to which a lot of venal people have been caught. Also, a few joint operations were carried out in places joining our borders which have yielded positive results too. It's noteworthy to point out that one-third of the figures quoted in the survey were falsely accredited to the state of Himachal Pradesh. A large chunk belonged to the state of Punjab and Haryana. This prompted me to hold a meeting with the Chief Ministers of Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Haryana where the CM of Haryana came up with the mechanism of appointing a Chief Secretary in Panchkula, where our nodal officers would also coordinate. A joint operation is also on our minds, the details of which can't be shared now to maintain confidentiality. Our focus is also to find out the peddlers associated with the supply of drugs and know the roots of suppliers so that we can get hold of the root cause of this menace and help control it. We also intend to visit educational institutions to educate and apprise our youth about this growing problem of drugs, its adverse impact on health etc.

Routine health check-ups of students of the 12th standard have also been formulated to diagnose and identify the signs of drug abuse; early detection and information to parents along with proper counseling would go a long way in mitigating this problem. And now, most significantly we have worked on de-addiction centres and rehabilitation centres which were non-existent in Himachal Pradesh back in the day. I believe & hope that out of these some have yielded positive results & some will in days to come.

Q. We know Himachal's tourism sector is ever booming owing to its ever pleasant weather and lush green surroundings. It's crucial that this situation sustains and not get exploited by various external factors. How do you plan to keep the surrounding as pleasant and un-naturel?

A. Indeed, our environment pleasantness is very dear and important to us. For this, the state had banned the plastic bags completely in 2009, though some stringent measures were reinforced seeing the casualty in the attitude of people. Recently, plates and cups made of thermocol were banned for their hazardous effects on the environment. We noticed that in our official meetings and events, water was served to each in half litre plastic bottle of mineral water; realizing that this practice generated a greater volume of plastic we resorted to big containers of plastic carrying mineral water – it helped in curbing plastic waste. We have also encouraged school children to carry water in stainless steel bottles instead of plastic water bottles and to bolster the use we held an event in Sundarnagar where we distributed 1,000 bottles to school going children. We promoted the message that though the cost of stainless steel bottles is relatively high it's for a long-term use and more importantly, safe for the health of citizens. Also, since tourists visit in massive numbers we also engage them in cooperating & preserving our ecology.

We will do more for a good environment in the days to come.

Q. What is your message to the youth of Himachal Pradesh?

A. My message to our children and students is to realise the value of the pleasant air we breathe and the healthy

ecology we're blessed with. Our state is called "Dev Bhoomi" and "Sunder Pradesh" – I wish them to value this and not take this rarity for granted. I

request them to contribute towards environmental conservation.

In addition, it's my humble request to take individual responsibility to keep away from the menace of drugs. This problem has the potential to spoil future generations. So I urge people to be conscious of keeping away from this problem as well as promoting our campaign to eradicate the problem of drug abuse.