HIMACHAL PRADESH

State Government committed towards welfare of Gaddi community: HP CM

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Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Sunday said that the Police Department has been directed to take immediate steps to check theft of sheep and goats of the Gaddi community by taking strict action against the criminals.

While presiding over the meeting of Himachal Pradesh Gaddi Kalyan Board at Dharamshala, the Chief Minister said that the State Police has issued Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on this subject, according to which the responsibility of the police administration has been fixed so as to ensure safety of life and property of the community.

The Chief Minister directed that compensation should be provided without delay to the Gaddis on loss of their sheep or goats due to natural disaster or pandemic. He also directed the concerned officers to ensure timely vaccination of the sheep and goats of Gaddis to protect their flock from various serious diseases.

The would consider including adequate representation of tribal people in Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribe Commission so that participation of the Scheduled Tribes must be ensured.

During various Jan Manch programmes organized in 11 districts of Himachal, 1609 grievances and demands were received out of which most of complaints were disposed of on the spot.

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To contain the spread of Coronavirus all safety and precautionary measures were properly followed by all district administrations.

Jal Shakti Minister Mahender Singh Thakur presided over the Jan Manch held in Karsog assembly constituency of district Mandi, where 332 complaints and demands were received out of which maximum were resolved on the spot while remaining were sent to the concerned departments for early redressal.

Urban Development Minister Suresh Bhardwaj presided over the Jan Manch at Kalbog in Jubbal-Kotkhai assembly constituency of district Shimla, where 76 complaints were received and 73 were disposed of on the spot. During Jan Manch, Health check-up of 78 persons was done in a free health camp and free medicines were given to 30 patients after tests.

Himachal govt to issue White Paper on fiscal health of the state: CM

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Regular monthly interaction between the Ministers and workers of Congress party would be held at Congress party office, Rajiv Bhawan, Shimla to ensure speedy redressal of the grievances of the Congress party workers, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Thursday.

This move has been initiated in consultation with State congress President Pratibha Singh, he said adding that this would improve better coordination between and workers of the Congress Party including general public.

The Chief Minister himself initiated this move by visiting Rajiv Bhawan today and met various delegations, party workers and common people who came from different parts of the State and listened to their grievances for about three hours.

Sukhu also highlighted the precarious financial Health of the state and said that a white paper would be brought out on the economic condition of the state in the upcoming Vidhan Sabha session, thereby helping the people of the state to better understand the reality of the unmindful spending done by the previous BJP government. Furthermore, he advised the leader of the opposition to introspect about the last five years of the BJP government regime before casting any allegations.

The present state government has inherited a debt of Rs. 75 thousand crore and the then BJP government failed to release a sum of Rs. 11 thousand crore, due to the government employees as arrears. Additionally, over 900 institutions were opened and upgraded during the last six months of the previous government, which would have resulted in an additional burden of Rs. 5000 crore on the state exchequer, he added.

HP will fully switch over to e-vehicles by 2025, says Sukhu

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Himachal Pradeshchief ministerSukhvinder Singh Sukhu, while speaking during theCongresss 85th Plenary session at Raipur, said that the is successfully implementing the Electric Vehicle Policy to reduce carbon emissions caused due to the exhaust fumes of the diesel and petrol vehicles. He said this would help in preserving the Himalayan Flora and Fauna of the state and will minimize the receding of Himalayan Glaciers.

He claimed that switching over to e-vehicles will also help in improving air quality in cities along with reducing Indias oil import dependence, besides enhancing the uptake of RENEWABLE ENERGY. The fossil fuel based commercial fleets will also be replaced in phased manner and the government has planned to replace the entire fleet of HRTC buses with e-buses in Himachal Pradesh in the near future, the CM said.

Sex ratio below 900 in Himachal Pradesh

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Himachal Pradesh is among the only three states and UTs now where sex ratio at birth continues to be below 900, the other two being Goa, and Daman and Diu.

The National Family Health Survey data for 2019-21 published recently shows the sex ratio at birth (females per 1,000 males) for kids born over five years prior to the study declined in Himachal Pradesh from 937 in NFHS 4 (2015-16) to 875 in NFHS 5 (2019-2021), a drop of 62 points.

Compliance data under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act reveals why sex ratio at birth trends refuse to improve satisfactorily.

The latest States Quarterly Report under the Act submitted to the Health Ministry reveals that only 71,096 diagnostic facilities, including genetic counselling centres, genetic labs and clinics and ultrasound and imaging centres have been registered under the law so far.

Overall, sex ratio at birth nationally improved marginally from 919 in NFHS 4 to 929 in the fifth survey edition even though sex ratio at the Population level improved significantly from 991 to 1020 over the two survey periods, crossing the 1000 mark for the first time ever.

Enrolment per school in Himachal 3rd lowest

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The enrolment per school in Himachal Pradesh is the third lowest in the country.

As per the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) report for 2021-22, the Average enrolment count is 80 in the state, way lower than the national average of 178. Only Ladakh (61) and Mizoram (79) have lower enrolment per school than the state.

The low enrolment reflects in the pupil-teacher ratio as well, which is among the lowest in the country at 14. Its exactly half the national average, which stands at 28. Only Ladakh (10), Mizoram (13) and (10) have the lower pupil-teacher ratio than the state.

5-year age relaxation for women under Swavalamban scheme in Himachal

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The has made amendments in the Mukhya Mantri Swavalamban Yojana- 2019 (MMSY) by giving five-year relaxation in the upper age limit for Women applying under the scheme and adding new activities.

Small-scale service and business enterprises, such as silage units, Unnat Dairy Vikas Project (minimum 10 cows or buffaloes), cold storage facilities for milk and milk products, farm stay, agro tourism, farm tourism, construction of retail outlets for Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture, manufacturing of agricultural implements and equipment, raising of vegetable nursery, Tissue Culture laboratory, Warehousing and transportation of agricultural produce, vertical farming, petrol pumps, EV charging stations, ambulance, silk processing unit, silk reeling units, Oxygen cryogenic tanker Services, surveyor unit and drilling units had been added under the MMSY.

A target of benefitting 2,000 people was fixed in 2021-22, which had now been enhanced to 3,000 and 1,350 cases have been sanctioned under the scheme till date. Earlier, the state government was providing subsidy for 85 activities under the scheme, he stated.

The government had approved the proposed amendments in MMSY-19, recommended by a committee constituted under the chairmanship of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Agriculture Minister Virender Kanwar, in the recently held Cabinet meeting.

Himachal Pradesh University council mulls New Education Policy implementation

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The Academic Council of the Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) discussed the implementation of the New Education Policy (NEP) at its recent meeting, which was held after a gap of four years.

The council further gave its Consent to open the Africa study centre in the university. It also gave its consent to nominate Dean of Studies as the member secretary of the Academic Council. It decided that all matters to be placed at the council meeting would be routed through the member secretary.

Himachal Pradesh: Switch To Horticulture Is Bearing Fruit

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Although only 8% of the land inHimachal Pradeshis under crops, of late farmers are being hand held and schooled on switching to horticultural crops, as the benfits overweigh the challenges.

For instance, according to horticulture officer Sanjeev Katoch, HPs horticulture department is running a state-sponsored scheme, Himchal Pradesh Kiwi Protsahan Yojana, under which farmers are given 50% subsidy Rs 6,93,000 per hectare on pro rata basis for planting material, field preparation, trellis system and installation of micro-Irrigation system.

The biggest challenge though is the wait farmers are expected to wait for two to three years before they can harvest their hard work. Although lucrative, many farmers do not want to go this route as it means they have to wait for two to three years. But, if they are patient, they earn 10-year income from traditional crops in a single year,

Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur called on Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia at New Delhi. During his meeting with the Union Finance Minister, the Chief Minister requested her to revive the ambitious 100 million dollar ADB project (phase-I) aimed at building world class infrastructure in the state to boost tourism activities.

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He said the first phase of the project has 20 sub projects and the intends to develop Infrastructure at both poles of Atal Tunnel and develop it as a major tourist destination. She assured that the request of the state for reviving the ADB project will be considered and asked to send the proposal immediately.

He said that Himachal Pradesh is a popular tourist destination and with construction and expansion of Airports, the influx of tourists will increase considerably thereby boosting tourism in the state and generating EMPLOYMENT opportunities.