HP marches to new heights of prosperity, development

Shimla: Today, we are celebrating 52nd Statehood Day of Himachal Pradesh and this historic day, I extend my warm greetings to the people of the state. We are also observing this day as the closing ceremony of celebrations organised to commemorate the Golden Jubilee year of statehood of the state.

We celebrated the progress and development of the state made in the last fifty years in the form of many events. However, due to the Corona pandemic, many pre-scheduled events could not be organized. The state government initiated various ambitious schemes and programmes for the people of the state on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee year.

Himachal Pradesh got statehood on 25 January, 1971 and thus this hilly province became the 18th state of the Indian Union. After getting the status of the state, Himachal Pradesh has marched ahead on the path of progress and prosperity in leap and bounds. Today, this state has emerged as role model of development not only for the hill states but also for other states of the country. The per capita income, gross domestic product, literacy rate, attaining status of power surplus state, rapid growth in horticulture and agriculture production, second best literacy in the country, road connectivity to the villages and door-to-door water and electricity facility are some indicators which show the growth of the state. The credit for this achievement goes to the hard working and honest people of the state.

In the year 1971, the per capita income of the state was only Rs 651 which has increased to 1,83,286 which is much better than most of other states in the country. The state's GDP today has gone up from Rs 223 crore in 1971 to Rs 1,56,522 crore. Similarly, the state has also made remarkable achievements in the field of education. Today, our literacy rate is 82.80 percent which was 23 percent in 1971. The agricultural production in the state has increased from 954 metric tons to 1500 metric tons. The food grain production in 1971 was 9.40 lakh MT which has increased to 16.74 lakh MT today. 24 thousand hectares of fertile land has been brought under irrigation during last 50 years.

The horticulture production was around 149 MT in the year 1971 which has increased to about 900 MT today. In 1971, there were 587 health institutions in the state, which have gone up to 4320 and the number of educational institutions has increased from 4693 to 16067. Similarly, the length of the roads has increased from 10,617 kms to about 38 thousand kms. In the year 1971, 2944 villages were electrified in the state, whereas today 100 percent villages have been provided with electricity facility.

Himachal Pradesh has emerged as a fruit state of the country and production of off-season vegetables has also increased considerably. In the last few years, the pharma industry has grown rapidly in the state and it has emerged as the pharma hub of Asia.

Today, on this historic day, we pay homage to the founder of Himachal Pradesh and the first Chief Minister of the state, Late Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar, who led the struggle for statehood for Himachal Pradesh and laid a strong foundation for the development of the state. I also express my gratitude to all the other leaders of the state who led the state at different times and gave their valuable contribution to take the state forward on the path of development and prosperity. I am also great full to the people of the state who made invaluable contribution in attainment of Statehood.

I am grateful to the people of the state who gave me the opportunity to serve the state four years back. The state government has fulfilled all the promises made to the people if the state by adopting the election manifestoes of the Bharatiya Janata Party 'Swarnim Drishti Patra' as a policy document and launching various new ambitious schemes for welfare and development of people.

The present BJP government of the state during last four years so far has worked with new zeal, innovative thoughts to give new dimension to the development of all parts of the state.

Our government has taken Himachal to new heights of development by imbibing the basic mantra 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas' of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for balanced and holistic development and welfare of all sections of the society. We have made honest efforts for attracting industrial investment to strengthen the state's economy, providing social security to the elderly, creating employment and self-employment opportunities for the youth, ensuring women's security and their socio-economic uplifiment, prosperity of farmers and horticulturists and backward sections of the society. We have taken notable initiatives to bring the economically weaker sections of the society in the mainstream of development.

The State Government in its first Cabinet meeting decided to lower the age from 80 years to 70 years for providing Social Security Pension without any income limit. About 2 lakh new pension cases have been sanctioned and the different types of Social Security Pensions have been increased during this period. Pension of Rs. 1000 per month is being provided to the women of age 65 to 69 years under Swarn Jayanti Nari Sambal Yojana.

The State Government started innovative Janmanch for redressal of the grievances of the people by the Ministers and officers nearer to their homes. So far, 232 Jan Manch hacve been organised in which 52,665 complaints and demands were recieved and 93 percent have been redressed. Adding new dimension to the programme Mukhyamantri Seva Sankalap Helpline-1100 has been started to redressal of the grievances of the people by registering their grievances online from home. More than three lakh complaints have been registered on the helpline, out of which 86 per cent have been resolved.