HIMACHAL PRADESH

Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Jai Ram Thakur, launched the Naari ko Naman Scheme, for Women of the state.

This scheme has been launched, in line with an announcement made before state assembly .

Himachal Pradesh government has announced to give 50% DISCOUNT in ticket prices to women in State Government buses.

Thus, bus tickets will now be available for women at half the cost.

Under the scheme, Himachal Pradesh government will spend Rs 60 crore annually to provide 50% discount on ticket prices to women in state. As per estimate, 1.25 lakh women travel in HRTC buses every day.

In a first, the farmers ofHimachal Pradeshs one of the two aspirational districts Chamba will cultivate asafoetida, commonly known as heeng, at higher reaches in Holi and Bharmaur regions of the district giving an alternate to farmers to diversify from the traditional crops and multiply their income.

The seedlings were prepared through either Tissue Culture or direct sowing of seeds and farmers were given a year-old Plants.
Chamba along with Sirmour have been tagged as aspirational districts by the central government.
The aspirational districts are considered backward on various parameters, including Education, Health, woman and child welfare and Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today launched the Himcare scheme for jail inmates by providing Himcare cards to the prisoners at the Model Central Jail, Kanda, here.

He also presided over the launch of the Integrated STI, HIV, TB, Hepatitis (ISHTH) campaign in prisons and other closed settings at the Kanda jail. The registration of inmates under the scheme has been initiated and the will cover the cost of premium for jail inmates, he said.

Plans were underway to introduce a scheme aimed at educating the children residing in Bal Sudhar Grih of the state, he added.

He said the ISHTH campaign aimed at screening and treating 3,218 inmates of 14 jails in the state and 1,278 inmates of juvenile homes, nari niketan and drug rehabilitation centres. The exercise would be completed across the state by June 14.

The Central Government has enhanced the liquid Oxygen quota of Himachal from 15 metric tonnes (MT) to 30 MT following a request by the .

As many as 2,100 patients in the state were on oxygen support till last evening and their number is rising with the increase in Covid cases on a daily basis, said state coordinator for oxygen Arindam Chaudhary.

The state has six pressure swing adsorption Plants at Shimla, Kangra, Mandi, Tanda, Chamba and Mandi

Eight private producers are also providing medical oxygen to the state

Himachal Pradesh Government is all set to collaborate with the Union Government on the Aroma Mission a lavender cultivation initiative that has proven to be a boon for farmers in Jammu and Kashmir.

With the climatic conditions of several regions in Himachal Pradesh, including Chamba, being similar to those of Jammu and Kashmir, the aims to replicate the success of this initiative in the hill state in a big way. This initiative will boost the economy of farmers as well as the State in a big way.

The State Government is planning to adopt modern scientific methods of farming by replacing traditional practices. To accomplish this, the State Government is seeking technical support from the Union Government.

The Centre would also organize orientation programs, training camps, and provide technical support to farmers and horticulturists of the State, enabling them to familiarize themselves with new innovative technologies in the farming sector, improve the quality of their produce and generate more income.

Lavender cultivation, also known as the purple revolution, could prove to be a lucrative option for the farmers of the State, thereby transforming their lives.

Himachal chief ministerJai Ram Thakuron Friday presented an Rs 51,365-crore budget for the financial year 2022-23.

In the election year, the chief minister has tried to woo every section of Society by making some announcements for them.

The budget for 2022-23 does not propose new taxes.
Honorarium of , village panchayats, zila parishad, panchayat samitis, anganwari workers and asha workers has been increased.

The social security pension amount has been increased and old age pension age limit has been decreased to 60 years. The budget includes 30,000 new jobs in 2022-23.

He said according to budget estimates, the total Revenue Receipts are expected to be Rs 36,375 crore and Revenue Expenditure is estimated at Rs 40,278 crore, with Revenue Deficit estimated to be Rs 3,903 crore.
The Fiscal Deficit is expected to be Rs 9,602 crore which is 4.98% of the states GDP.
According to the 2022-23 budget, out of every Rs 100, Rs 26 will be spent on salary, Rs 15 on pension, Rs 10 on interest payments, Rs 11 on loan repayments, Rs 9 for grants for autonomous bodies and remaining Rs 29 will be spent on other activities including capital works.

The CM said the state witnessed weak Health Infrastructure during the pandemic but the government faced all the problems.

He said the states health infrastructure was developed rapidly which helped Himachal Pradesh in fighting second and third waves of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said the state had only two Oxygen Plants before the pandemic but now it has 48 plants and more than 5,000 oxygen concentrators.

He said it is matter of pride for Himachal Pradesh that Russian vaccine Sputnik is being produced commercially in the state.

He said the State Government has written a development story in the last four years despite many challenges.

The CM said that his government has tried to help each section of society through Ujjwala, PM Kisan Samman, Ayushman Bharat, Himcare, Sahara, Janmanch and many other schemes.
Thakur said that the Centre gave Rs 600 crore extra help to the state during 2021-22 for capital Investment and the Money is being spent to complete important projects.
The increase in capital investment has not only strengthened the state financially but also created many jobs.

He said the GDP in 2021-22 is expected to be 9.2% while the state had witnessed a negative Growth of 7.3% in 2020-21.

The Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture has witnessed growth of 3.9%, Industry 11.8% and service sector by 8.2% in 2021-22.

The economy of the state is expected to have a growth of 8.3per cent in 2021-22. He said such a growth despite pandemic is an achievement of the government.

The GSDP in the year 2021-22 is estimated at 1,75,173 crore and per capita income at is estimated at 2,01,854 which is more than the estimated national per capita income by Rs 51,528.

The CM said there is a provision of opening a single nodal agency account for all the Centre-funded projects so that all funds are released to the concerned departments accounts. All 91 projects of the Centre in Himachal are brought under purview of this scheme.
He said that Rs 12,921 crore outlay has been proposed for 2022-23, of which state development budget outlay will be Rs 9,534 crore and Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and OBC development outlay will be Rs 2,400 crore, Rs 865 crore and Rs 152 crore respectively.

Chief ministerSukhvinder Singh Sukhupresented theHimachal Pradesh Economic Survey 2022-23in the Vidhan Sabha on Thursday which states that the state;s or GDP atConstant Priceswill grow by over Rs 8,143 crore during the current financial year 2022-23 as compared to the previous financial year 2021-22.

CM Sukhu said this translates into Growth in real GDP during Financial Year 2022-23 at 6.4 per cent as compared to 7.6 per cent in Financial Year 2021-22, according to first advance estimates of State Income. He said that Per Capita Income of Himachal Pradesh is more than the estimatedNational Per Capita Incomefor 2022-23 by Rs 51,607.

He said that state’s RealGross Domestic Product(GDP) or GDP at Constant Prices (2011-12) in Financial Year 2022-23 is estimated to attain a level of Rs 1,34,576 crore, as against the provisional estimate of GDP for Financial Year 2021-22 of Rs 1,26,433 crore.

The Nominal GDP or GDP at Current Prices in Financial Year 2022-23 is estimated to attain a level of Rs 1,95,404 crore, as against the provisional estimate of GDP for Financial Year 2021-22 of Rs 1,76,269 crore showing an absolute increase of Rs 19,135 crore. The growth in Nominal GDP during Financial Year 2022-23 is estimated at 10.9 per cent as compared to 13.5 per cent in Financial Year 2021-22.

As per advance estimates for Financial Year 2022-23, the Gross Value Added (GVA) from Primary Sector is likely to grow at a pace of 2.0 per cent at constant prices.

During financial year 2022-23 (AE), the GVA of Primary sector moved up to Rs 16,717 crore as against Rs 16,395 crore in Financial Year 2021-22 (FR) at constant prices. As per advance estimates for Financial Year 2022-23 the GVA of the Secondary Sector is estimated at Rs 60,444 crore against Rs 56,408 crore for Financial Year 2021-22(FR) at constant (2011-12) prices, expected to register a growth rate of 7.2 per cent over the previous year.

The chief minister said that the Services-sector”>services sector has a significant and fast growing share in the State’s GVA. The advance estimates for the Financial Year 2022-23 at Constant (2011-12) prices for Services Sector is estimated at Rs 49,527 crore as against Rs 46,350 crore in Financial Year 2021-22(FR) showing a growth rate of 6.9 per cent over last year.
According to advance estimates, the Per Capita Income at current prices for Financial Year 2022-23 is estimated at Rs 2.22,227 against Rs 2,01,271 in 2021-22 showing a growth rate of 10.4 per cent as against 13.1 per cent in 2021-22(FR)

Himachal Pradesh which falls in the high-risk, high-intensity seismic zones IV and V. Successive state governments strengthened disaster response but left most of the public andprivate buildingsnon-resistant to tremors. Of the 25,75,947 (25.7 lakh) structures that state counted in 2011, it found 14,64,458 (14.6 lakh) or 56.8% in the unsafe category A, of mud walls and unburnt-clay bricks. Another 10,07,568 (10 lakh) or 39.11% of the structures were in category B, ofburnt bricks.None of the categories are resistant to earthquake.

A high-intensity earthquake is more catastrophic in the Mountains, for it triggers landslides, rockslides, and avalanches. Seven Himachal Pradesh districts – Chamba, Kullu, Kangra, Una, Hamirpur, Mandi, and Bilaspur – are in the very high damage risk seismic zone V, while five districts – Shimla, Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti, and Sirmaur – fall in the high damage risk seismic zone IV. More than 90% of Hamirpur, Kangra, and Mandi is prone to “destructive” Earthquakes measured by the Medvedev-Sponheuer-Karnik (MSK) scale of intensity.

Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday thanked the Union Government for according approval to the proposals of about Rs. 10,620 crore of various externally aided projects in Himachal Pradesh during the last four years.

While participating in a pre-budget consultation meeting on union budget 2022-23, at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, presided over by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Chief Minister said that the Finance Ministry was continuously providing generous financial assistance to the state. He said that the interest free loan of Rs. 400 crore was sanctioned for the development of in the state during this financial year and an additional Rs. 600 crore may be provided in the form of special assistance.

Raising the issue of import duty on apples, Thakur emphasized on the need to increase the same from 50 percent to 100 percent to protect Himachali Apple and the livelihood of 2.5 lakh families. He said that the apple was the main horticultural crop of the state which was also the primary source of the livelihood of a large Population. However, due to a large influx of the imported apples in the national market, prices of the Himachal Apple had fallen sharply, leading to revenue losses of the horticulturists of the state. Therefore import duty should be increased and apple crop should be excluded from the list of fruits and other commodities brought under Open General License (OGL).