Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Sunday announced setting-up of the Agriculture and Horticulture Commission in the state to ensure the participation of farmers and orchardists and to safeguard their rights.
He said the state government would present a Bill to form this commission in the upcoming Budget session of the legislative Assembly. The Chief Minister made this announcement at a state-level function organised at Pragpur in connection with statehood day celebrations. Earlier, he unfurled the national flag and took the salute at the march past parade.
Congratulating the people of the state on the occasion, he recalled the immense contributions of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the first Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, YS Parmar, in securing statehood for the state.
The chief minister announced the opening of SDM office at Pragpur and PHC at Nalsuha in the Jaswan Assembly constituency.
In his address, the CM said that when the state government assumed office, the previous government had left liabilities exceeding Rs 10,000 crore on account of salary and pension arrears of employees. At present, the total outstanding arrears related to salaries, pensions, and other dues amount to Rs 8,555 crore.
Despite the state’s strained financial condition, he announced that the complete payment of arrears of pensioners and family pensioners aged 70 years and above would be made in the month of January this year. He said that an amount of Rs 90 crore would be spent for this purpose.
Sukhu further stated that Class-IV employees who retired between 1st January, 2016 and 31st December, 2021 have accrued arrears of gratuity and leave encashment due to the revision of pension and related benefits and announced that an additional 50 per cent of the gratuity arrears and 70 per cent of the leave encashment arrears would be paid to them in January and an expenditure of Rs 96 crore would be incurred.
He said that the occasion provided an opportunity to assess the achievements of the past 55 years and to reflect on the direction in which the state should progress in the coming years. With this sense of responsibility and vision, the state government has initiated the preparation of a document titled ‘Samriddh Himachal Vision,’ which is now in its final stage.
Sukhu informed that the vision document has been prepared through extensive consultations with people across the state, experts, the administration, and institutions.
While drafting the document, due consideration has been given to Himachal Pradesh’s environment, the aspirations of its hard-working people and its strong social traditions. The objective is to promote development that is environmentally sustainable, disaster-resilient, and inclusive of all sections of society, he added.