HIMACHAL PRADESH

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced today that the would invest Rs 250 crore to upgrade facilities at the milk processing plant at Dhagwar in Kangra district.

The CM said Cooperative Societies would be established to increase the income of Dairy farmers by ensuring effective Marketing of milk and its by-products. The necessary Infrastructure would be developed in a phased manner, he added.

The state government aims to collect milk from cattle owners and sell its by-products to improve the rural economy. A sum of Rs 500 crore has been allocated for the Him-Ganga scheme, which will be initially launched on a pilot basis to develop a milk-based economy in the state.

Cattle owners will receive fair prices for milk on the basis of the real cost and efforts will be made to enhance the quality and efficiency of milk procurement, processing, and marketing systems. The government will also protect dairy farmers from regional and seasonal price fluctuations.

As many as 24,500 self-help groups (SHGs) formed under the (NRLM) have been selling their products under Him Ira brand and the logo of the Himachal Pradesh State Rural Livelihoods Mission registered in 2019-20.

The main objective of setting up Him Ira shops and a weekly market was to provide a platform to Women SHGs to sell their products.

It has been targeted to set up 100 shops in different parts of the state. So far, Him Ira shops have been established in 46 locations.

These SHGs had launched a new initiative to prepare hygienic food for employees of various departments, offices and canteens located in educational institutions and government offices.

In the first phase, the Department of Technical Education has agreed to provide space to SHGs to set up Him Ira kitchens in its 14 educational institutions. The first such canteen has been established at Arki-ITI, Solan district. Similarly, Him Ira Annapurna Meals on Wheels, has also been started.

The hill state has 8.21 lakh unemployed. As per the data from the states EMPLOYMENT exchange, Kangra district topped the list with 1,66,325 registered unemployed persons, followed by 1,61,085 in Mandi, and 71,316 in Shimla.

Notwithstanding a dip in comparison to the previous financial year, the number of unemployed people in Himachal Pradesh continues to be high. The number of such people registered in all employment exchanges in the State in December 2022 stood at 8.21 lakh compared to 8.73 lakh in December 2021.

As many as 1.41 lakh persons registered themselves in employment exchanges till December 2022 during the current financial year compared to 1.68 lakh the previous year.

Apart from Kangra, Mandi and Shimla, Una district has 64,384 unemployed, Chamba 62,436, and Hamirpur 61,989, while tribal districts of Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur were at the bottom with 5,226 and 8,300 unemployed youths.

Out of 4,75,156 employed persons, 2,79,365 persons were employed in the government sector across 4,417 establishments, while 1,95,791 people were employed in the private sector in 1,824 establishments as on March 31, 2021, as per the Economic Survey.

The Himachal Pradesh Kaushal Vikas Nigam (HPKVN) has launched several programmes in this direction, enrolling 57,781 people so far under its various skilled development programmes. Out of them, 31,770 have been certified.

The HP Skill development Programme was started in 2018 with an outlay of Rs 827 crore, out of which, Rs 661 crore contributed by Asian .

The government is also giving an allowance of Rs 1,000 per month for skill development courses to each aspirant, and Rs 1,500 to people with more than 50 per cent permanent disability.

Kullu districts long-stuckBijli Mahadevropeway project worth Rs 233 crore will get the thrust of forest clearance, which will help both locals and tourists reach the mountaintop temple at an altitude of about 8,000 feet.

The hopes to complete the formalities before March 31 for chief ministerSukhvinder Singh Sukhuto lay the 2.4-kilometre ropeways foundation stone, saidchief parliamentary secretaryfor forest and tourism SunderSingh Thakur.

Thebudgetsession of Himachal legislative assembly will begin from Wednesday with the address of governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar. Chief ministerJai Ram Thakurwill present the budget for the upcoming financial year 2022-23 in the assembly on March 4. During the session, on March 3 and 10, there will be a private members day.

Speaker Vipin Singh Parmar gave this information during a press conference inShimlaon Tuesday. He said that legislators submitted questions related to , Unemployment, filling of vacant posts ingovernmentoffices, drug addiction,tourism. Notices of questions have been given on many other issues including transport, NPS, DPR of roads, upgradation of educational and Health institutionns. The notices from the members have been sent to the government for their reply.

He said that the security arrangements of the assembly have been beefed up during the budget session. The premises will also be monitored bydronesand 480Policepersonnel, 70 Home guards and CID personnel will also be deployed.

The cases of crime against Women involving kidnapping, molestation, abetment to commit suicide, cruelty and eve-teasing have declined by 31.68 per cent in Shimla district in the past five years.

The data procured from the Police Department reveals that the use of latest technology, advanced methods, intensive surveillance and availability of women personnel deterred criminals and repeat offenders from committing crime against women.

Heinous crimes such as rape and abetment of suicide dropped in the capital city in the past five years. Compared to 40 rape cases in 2019, 38 such cases were reported in 2022. Similarly, while there were six abetment of suicide cases in 2018, only one such case was reported in 2022. The cases of kidnapping, molestation, cruelty to women and eve-teasing also came down.

The Himachal Pradesh Education Department has adopted cluster school system for optimum utilisation of manpower and to achieve the goal of quality education and notified 1023 clusters with enrolment of 4, 97,631.

Based on area and accessibility, cluster schools (middle, senior secondary and high) notified by the Higher Education Department included 1,878 Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS), 931 Government High Schools (GHS) and 1895 Government Middle Schools.

The maximum number of 182 clusters has been notified in Shimla followed by 161 in Mandi, 134 in Kangra, 121 in Chamba, 109 in Sirmaur, 84 in Solan, 63 in Hamirpur, 58 in Kullu, 42 in Bilaspur, 37 in Una, 23 in Kinnaur and 21 in Lahaul and Spiti.

The wildlife wing of the Forest Department has decided to extend the project for protecting the nesting and roosting sites of white-backed vultures, considered natural scavengers, being run in Kangra to nine other districts as well.

It was over two decades ago that the Wildlife Department had embarked on the project to preserve vultures, mentioned as one of the critically endangered species in the International Union for Conservation of Nature () Red List. The number of vultures, estimated to be merely 35 in 2004, has risen considerably over the years, as feeding stations have been set up in pine forests in Nagrota Suriyan area of Kangra.

The Population estimation of vultures in Kangra and its adjoining areas has not been undertaken but the annual count of their nests and fledglings indicated that their number has gone up considerably to over 400, says Rajiv Kumar. Vultures have been frequently sighted in several other parts of the state, including Nalagarh in Solan and Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur.

It is based on the encouraging results of the project launched in Kangra district that prompted the wildlife wing to extend it to nine other districts. A major component of the project will be to undertake an exhaustive survey to identify roosting and nesting sites so that a congenial habitat can help in increasing the number of vultures.