Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Vice-President presented Diamond State Awards to Himachal Chief Minister

Bijender Sharma
New Delhi--Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Vice-President presented Diamond State Awards to Himachal Chief Minister Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal in a function held in Hotel Taj Palace New Delhi last night.

Himachal Pradesh has been adjudged as best State in the country in a national-wide independent survey conducted by Nielsen for IBN -7 Electronic Channel network and outlook magazine.

Himachal Pradesh has been given three awards for its best performance in Education and Poverty Alleviation and also Best State.

Speaking on this occasion, Chief Minister said that the State was the first to have achieved zero dropout rate in the education institutions and added that govt has made the arrangements for home based educations to the handicapped persons who are unable to reach the nearest educations institutions due to physical disability. He said that state has achieved various milestones in the social sectors and added that ex servicemen has contributed generously for building the educations and health infrastructure in the state by donating liberally to these institutions and creating basic infrastructures in their home towns through their own contributory means .He said that state has always strived for inclusive growth to maintain balanced development of all regions of the State. He said that common man is the main beneficiary of all the govt schemes in the state and told that special emphasis has been laid on education and health in remote, inaccessible and difficult tribal areas of the state despite of tough geographical and topographical conditions

Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal urged the centre to seriously view the threat perceptions from neighbouring China and told that while the China has build world class modern infrastructure in rail, road and communications on border side areas but on the other hand the Govt. of India was not giving attention for the request of the State to match the Chinese plans for security reasons. He told that while Chinese authorities has laid down railways lines, airports, road networks and modern communications infrastructure along with Leh -Ladakh border but on the other hand the state govt pleas for setting up Manali -Leh railway line has been ignored by the centre. He asked for inclusive growth of all the border states of the country and said that special emphasis should be given to develop the borders areas with modern facilities and infrastructure.
Chief Minister said that the Central Government should realise its constitutional duty for providing safety and security of its citizens and safeguards the international borders from outside foreign aggressions

He told that State was spending the highest State Plan Budget of 12% on agriculture and would emerge as agriculture power. He said that the state has over the years launched a number of programs and policy initiatives to harness the farming potential and put the farm sector on high groth trajectory.

Himachal Pradesh received National e-Governance Award for e- Gazette in 2009 besides National e-Governance Award for Himachal Pradesh Police Web Portal in 2009. The State got Web Ratna Awards for Citizens Centric Services, comprehensive web presence and NIC coordinator for the national portal respectively in 2010. These awards were given by Ministry of Communication, Government of India. The State Government has not only fulfilled most of the promises made to the people on the eve of last Assembly Election, but has even gone much beyond in accelerating the pace of development and ensuring welfare of the people by initiating innovative programmes and ambitious projects.

Roads, Education and Health were the thrust areas of the Government and Self-employment, Self-reliance and Self-respect its motto. Special emphasis has been laid on construction and maintenance of roads as roads are life lines of development in hill areas. After connecting the villages with a population of 500 and above with roads, the State Government has set a target to connect all the villages with a population of 250 and above by 2012. Efforts are being made to make Himachal Pradesh an, 'Education Hub' of the country. Special thrust of the State Government is on quality education, including professional and technical education, and creating educational infrastructure. Better and specialized health care facilities are being provided at the door-steps of the people. Over 2.98 lakh BPL families have been provided Health Insurance Cover of Rs. 30,000. For critical disease, Rs 1.75 lakh assistance has been given under the Scheme. 'Atal Swasthya Seva' scheme has been launched recently from 25th December, under which free ambulance service is being provided within 35 minutes.

Rs 353 crore 'Pandit Deen Dayal Kisan Bagwan Samridhi Yojana', has been launched for bringing prosperity in the rural areas through crop diversification and self-employment. "Mukhya Mantri Arogya Pashudhan Yojana' has been launched in the State to provide Veterinary dispensaries in all the remaining 1272 panchayats during the next three

years, which are lacking these facilities. 'Doodh Ganga Yojana' is another important scheme in the dairy sector.

The State Government is making concerted efforts to make Himachal the 'Fruit Bowl' of India. Rs. 85 crore 'Apple Re-plantation Project' has been started for replacing the old and low yielding variety apple trees with quality and productive varieties of apple root-stocks. 'Bhed Palak Samridhi Yojana' has been launched for Shepherds of Mandi, Kangra, Chamba, Kullu and Shimla districts.

Nature has blessed Himachal Pradesh with natural grandeur and pollution-free environment. New direction has been given to tourism development by encouraging nature and rural tourism in a big way. Environment conservation efforts have been stepped up to make the State ' Carbon Neutral'. Complete ban has been imposed on use of plastic and polythene carry bags. Use of plastic cups and plates is also being banned from 15 August,2011. The State Government has tried to benefit every section of the society by its people oriented policies, programmes, decisions and initiatives. Himachal Pradesh is one of the few first States in the country which have given 50 per cent reservation to women in Panchayati Raj Institutions and Local Bodies.