Himachal Pradesh: Industries minister slams Oppn leader over central aid

SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh industries minister Bikram Singh has strongly denounced the statement of leader of opposition Mukesh Agnihotri in which he has alleged that the state government has failed to get financial assistance from the Centre while execution of various projects have been delayed.
The minister said that it seems the senior Congress leaders including Mukesh Agnihotri are still in a shocking state after suffering humiliating defeat in the Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha elections and are resorting to baseless and frivolous statements.
He said that it was due to the efforts of chief minister Jai Ram Thakur that the state succeeded in getting approved the developmental projects amounting to Rs 10,330 crore from the Centre in a very short time period. These projects have been forwarded to concerned agencies and the work would start soon. He said it is very surprising that opposition leader is questioning the honest efforts of the state government forgetting the poor financial management, unplanned and wasteful expenditure by the previous Congress government in the state.
Bikram Singh said that Congress government failed to get any financial assistance or special package from the government despite that fact that the Congress-led government was in the helm of affairs at the Centre. Even the special industrial package given to Himachal Pradesh was also withdrawn in year 2009 by the UPA government which affected the developmental growth of the state.
He said that it is for the first time in the history of the state that a government has taken an initiative to give boost to industrial activities in such a big manner but instead of welcoming these efforts, the opposition is playing games just for the sake of criticism. He said that Congress party should appreciate that before the global investors meet, the government has already succeeded in signing more than 253 MoUs with many reputed industrial houses with an investment of over 29,000 crores that will also provide employment opportunities to thousands of people.
He said that the previous Congress government also failed to call the tenders for the national highways sanctioned for the state though the Modi government had immediately released the funds for preparing detailed project reports (DPR). It was after the formation of the BJP government in the state that the work was initiated and the DPRs of various road projects are being prepared.
Expressing surprise over the allegation of Mukesh Agnihotri that Jai Ram Thakur has become a pawn of non-Himachal officers, he said that opposition must not forget that the officers he is talking about are not new and they were also working in the Congress government. As far as the availability of land for the investment is concerned, the state government is committed to protect the interests of the state and its people.
Employment to outsiders was Congress government's decision:
Reacting to the questions being raised by the Congress leaders regarding appointment of few employees of the other states in the State Secretariat, Bikram Singh said this is a result of the decision taken by the previous Congress government in 2016. The Congress government made amendment in the Recruitment and Promotion Rules for appointment on the posts of Class III and Class IV by making a provision that any candidate who is citizen of India, can apply for these posts in the state.