Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu distributes land deeds to 89 Pong Dam oustees, announces Rs. 3 lakh as housing aid

Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu during a public meeting in Haripur in Dehra Assembly Constituency of Kangra district today, handed over land allotment certificates to 89 Pong dam oustees.He said that the issue of Pong Dam oustees was strongly raised by the local MLA before the government they have been suffering for the past 50 years and even had to struggle to get their documents. 

He stated that the state government was now granting them their due rights and assured that remaining displaced families would also be allotted land in the near future. Additionally, each family will receive Rs. 3 lakh as financial assistance for building homes, he added.

 “For past 25 years, this constituency didn’t had any Congress legislator. An independent MLA from Dehra resigned in arrogance.  However, 11 months ago, Kamlesh Thakur was elected in the by-election as a congress MLA by the people. 

Since then Dehra was witnessing transformation towards development” he said.  Chief Minister also assured for completion of the Nandpur bridge by December this year. He stated that  during his visit to Dehra, two girls from Nandpur narrated their woes to him that it becomes difficult for them to travel during the rainy season. 

“I am here to break the myth ‘Dehra Koi Nahin Tera, as henceforth, ‘Dehra-Mera’, (Dehra is Mine) he remarked.The Chief Minister said that the state government was establishing ‘Adarsh Swasthya Sansthan’s’ in all 68 Assembly constituencies with six specialist doctors in each so that people could be provided with specialized health services.

He declared that Community Health Centre (CHC), Haripur will be made ‘Adarsh Swasthya Sansthan’ and also announced rupees two crore for the construction of residential accommodation for doctors.

He said that an International-level Zoological park was being constructed with an outlay of Rs. 619 crore in Bankhandi in Dehra area and its first phase would be made functional next year. This project was expected to boost tourism in and around Dehra besides strengthening the local economy.

He added that the expansion work of Kangra airport was underway and the affected people would receive decent and fair compensation.Sh. Sukhu further said that the state government had shifted the Wildlife Wing office of the Forest department from Shimla to Dharamshala and in near future more government offices would be moved to Kangra district to decongest the Shimla city.

He said that the implementation of GST had caused significant losses to Himachal Pradesh as before GST, the State used to receive Rs. 3,000 crore annually, but now it gets only Rs. 150 crore. He criticized the previous BJP government for “plundering the State’s resources” and said that while subsidies to the needy were justified, but giving subsidies to the well-off was wrong. 

For decades, pre-election promises were made in abundance by the BJP, but the quality of essential services, especially in health and education sector, declined considerably. He said “The State Government aims to improve medical facilities at IGMC Shimla and Tanda Medical College in the coming year.”

Addressing criticism from BJP leaders on the medical device park, he said that the previous BJP government was trying to give away land worth Rs 500 crore in Nalagarh for merely Rs. 12 lakh to an industrialist, ignoring the State’s interest.

He assured that the present government would not allow the assets of the State to be squandered and that the State’s financial condition was improving due to policies of the present State Government.

Dehra MLA Kamlesh Thakur expressed gratitude to the State Government for the numerous projects and initiatives in her constituency. She said that she was thankful to the people for their support and promised to make up for the development gap within six months.

She said tourism projects were being developed in Dehra, including Zoological Park, for which the Chief Minister laid the foundation stones of two components today. She said that the Ranital to Mubarakpur road project had been approved and Rs. 214 crore was being spent in the PWD sector in Dehra. 

She said that 24 drinking water schemes damaged during  natural disaster in 2023 were being restored at a cost of Rs. 43 crore, with water treatment plants being installed.Former Rajya Sabha MP Viplove Thakur praised the Chief Minister and recalled his political journey from the grassroots to the top office. She said that the entire Himachal, including Dehra, was progressing under his leadership.

MLA’s Sanjay Rattan and Ashish Butail, Vice Chairman HP Forest Development Corporation Kehar Singh Khachi, Principal Advisor (IT and innovations) to CM Gokul Butail, Vice Chairman HRTC Ajay Verma, Chairman Kangra Cooperative Bank Kuldeep Singh Pathania, Chairman Kangra Agriculture and Rural Development Bank Ram Chander Pathania, Chairman APMC Kangra Nishu Mongra, Chairman Wool Federation Manoj Kumar, Congress leaders Dr. Rajesh Sharma, Devender Jaggi, Surender Mankotia, Pushpinder Thakur, Additional Chief Secretary K.K. Pant, Deputy Commissioner Hemraj Bairwa, and SP Dehra Mayank Chaudhary were also present on the occasion amongst others.