The Golden Jubilee celebrations on the occasion of 50 years of statehood of Himachal Pradesh were organised with great enthusiasm and fervor across the state today. The state level Golden Jubilee function was held at the historic Ridge of Shimla while functions were also organised at all district headquarters to mark this special occasion.
Governor Bandaru Dattatraya was the chief guest of the state level function while Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur was special guest on this occasion. National BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda and Union Minister of state for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur also graced the occasion.
While congratulating the people of the state on the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Statehood, the Governor said that this small hill state had made unprecedented development in its 50 years journey. Dedicated leadership, strong will power and hard work of the people of the state had established many dimensions of development. By giving priority to education, health, roads, electricity, water, social security and tribal welfare, the State had achieved socio-economic goals and it had emerged as the ideal of the country.
Shri Dattatraya said that from the first Paramvir Chakra winner Major Somnath Sharma to Captain Vikram Batra, the bravery and valour of our soldiers had brought laurels to the nation. He said that the rich culture, high traditions and values of life were still alive in this hill State. He congratulated the State Government for successful implementation of various schemes to facilitate the people.
The Governor expressed hope that with the cooperation of the people, the strong leadership would establish new dimensions of development in the state. He called upon the people to work with more dedication for the progress and prosperity of the State and make constructive contribution towards building a clean and strong society and self-sufficient Himachal.
Jagat Prakash Nadda while addressing the event said that the people of the state were fortunate to witness this historic event. The developmental journey of Himachal Pradesh was quiet difficult and arduous but the successive leaderships and hardworking people of the state converted these challenges into opportunities. He said that the state over these years had made rapid strides in various spheres of the development.
Jagat Prakash Nadda said contribution of the first Chief Minister Dr Y.S. Parmar were immense and similar were the contributions of former Chief Ministers Virbhadra Singh, Shanta Kumar, Thakur Ram Lal and Prem Kumar Dhumal who ensured that the state forges ahead on the path of progress and prosperity. Shanta Kumar made immense contribution in providing drinking water whereas the contributions of Prem Kumar Dhumal were immense in providing road connectivity.
He said that today the State could boast of six medical colleges, an AIIMS, PGI satellite centre and super speciality hospital. The special category state status had again been given to the state by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the work of Atal Tunnel was completed due to his special interest and assistance. He also appreciated the welfare schemes launched by the state government and said that Himachal was poised to become most developed state of the country.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur while congratulating people of the state on this historic day lauded the efforts of the former Chief Ministers who despite geographical and other constraints steered this hilly state that today it had emerged as front runners in India, not in one but in many indexes laid down by the government of India and other world agencies. He said that whatever the state had achieved today was due to hardworking and honest people.
Jai Ram Thakur said that Himachal Pradesh started its development journey from a scratch and the development achieved during the last 50 years was inspiring for not only hilly states, but also for other big states as well. He paid his rich tributes to the former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi for declaring Himachal Pradesh as the 18th state of the Indian Union. The State had witnessed all-round development by making revolutionary transformation in socio-economic sector, he added.
The Chief Minister paid rich tributes to the first Chief Minister of the state Dr Y.S. Parmar for laying a sound foundation for the future development. He also appreciated the efforts of the former Chief Ministers of the state for their significant contributions who worked with great vision and commitment to make Himachal as one of the most developed state of the country.
Jai Ram Thakur said that the State was also fortunate to have benevolence of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who gave industrial package to ensure that the Himachal could become industrial hub of the country. He said that PMGSY was also the vision of Shri Vajpayee which ensured road connectivity to rural Himachal. He said that today the state was fortunate to have blessings of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was always considerate towards the developmental needs of the state.
He said that the state government would be celebrating the Golden Jubilee year of the Statehood in a befitting manner by organising 51 programmes throughout the year. This would also ensure participation of people in the fifty years of developmental journey of the state. The government would honour the person of the state who had made contribution towards the development and also those who made the state proud in fields such as sports, culture, art and social services etc. He said that suggestions would be invited from the people for making Himachal Pradesh a most developed state of the country.
Jai Ram Thakur said that the Corona pandemic had adversely affected the world economy and our country and State was not an exception. However, under the able leadership provided by the Prime Minister, today we had succeeded in checking the pandemic and two Corona vaccines had also been prepared.
The Chief Minister said today, per capita income of the state had reached over Rs 1,90,500 and 4118 health institutions were functioning against 587 in 1970-71. The present state government had started Himcare scheme to benefit those people who were not covered under Ayushman Bharat Yojna of Central Government by providing medical cover up to rupees five lakh per year to five members of a family. At present, as many as 4.63 lakh families had been registered under this scheme and 1.33 lakh people had received cashless treatment amounting to Rs. 131.33 crore.
Jai Ram Thakur said that 2611 units were given approval and 1172 had been established by providing Rs. 69.70 crore subsidy under ‘Mukhya Mantri Swavalamban Yojna’ with job opportunities for 3866 persons. He said that Nayi Rahein Nayi Manzilen scheme had been launched to promote and develop lesser known places of the State from tourism point of view. He said that now state had 37808 kilometers of roads, 2226 bridges and road connectivity to 10508 inhabited villages.
He said that state government organized the Global Investor’s Meet at Dharamshala in November, 2019 where 703 MoUs worth Rs. 96720.88 crore were signed and the first ground breaking ceremony of 236 projects worth Rs 13,500 crore was also done. He said that the State had made an aggressive bid for the Bulk Drug Pharma Hub which would ensure investment of worth Rs10,000 crore and on completion would ensure turnover of about Rs 70,000 crore.
Anurag Thakur also greeted the people on the occasion of Golden Jubilee of the Statehood. He also paid rich tributes to the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for granting Statehood to the State and founder and Dr. Y.S. Parmar for laying strong foundation of a strong and vibrant Himachal. He said that today the state was fast forging ahead on the path of progress and prosperity under the leadership of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur. He urged the people of the State to work with dedication and commitment to make Himachal the most developed state of the country in next twenty-five years.
Urban Development Minister Suresh Bhardwaj welcomed the dignitaries present on the occasion. He also traced the developmental journey of the state.
Theme song and Documentary Himachal Tab Aur Ab on the Golden Jubilee of the Statehood was screened and a Coffee Table Book- Swaranim Himachal brought out by the Information and Public Relations Department was released on the occasion.
A postage stamp on Golden Jubilee was also released on the occasion.
Earlier, Bandaru Dattatraya, Jagat Prakash Nadda, Jai Ram Thakur and Anurag Thakur paid floral tributes on the statue of Indira Gandhi, Atal Behari Vajpayee and Dr. Y.S. Parmar.
They also visited the exhibition stalls put up by various departments and evinced keen interest in it.
Wife of National BJP President Dr. Malika Nadda, wife of Chief Minister Dr Sadhna Thakur, Ministers, State BJP President Suresh Kashyap, State BJP In-charge Avinash Rai Khanna, Co-Incharge Sanjay Tandon, leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri, MPs, MLAs, Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of various Boards and Corporations, Mayor Satya Kaundal, Deputy Mayor Shailendra Chauhan, Chief Secretary Anil Khachi, Director General of Police Sanjay Kundu, senior officers of the state government and people of different walks of the life were also present on the occasion.
