No school under Atal Adarsh scheme will be closed: Sukhu
Tells the House that a ₹60-crore project has been proposed for development of tourism infra at both portals of Atal Tunnel
SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday said his party regards all former prime ministers and the schools opened in the name of Atal Bihari Vajpayee will not be closed.
While responding to a query raised by BJP MLAs Vinod Kumar and Lokendra Kumar during the question hour in the Vidhan Sabha, he said the present government honours the schemes running in the names of all former prime ministers.
He had also mentioned this in his reply to the discussion on the budget.
The chief minister intervened after leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur expressed apprehensions about the future of schools built under the Atal Adarsh Vidyalaya Yojana launched by the previous BJP government. He said under the Rajiv Gandhi Day Boarding School Scheme, every school will be within five kilometres radial
distance from the tehsil and subdivisional headquarters. He said all facilities would be made available in these schools. Wherever possible, swimming pools would also be built in the schools, Sukhu said, adding that the government is spending ₹36,000 on each child in a primary school.
Earlier, education minister Rohit Thakur said that land has been identified in all 68 assembly segments of Himachal to set
up Rajiv Gandhi day boarding schools.
“Land has been transferred in the name of the education department in nine out of 68 constituencies -- Indora, JaswanPragpur and Palampur in Kangra, Kinnaur, Una, Haroli, Kutlehar and Gagret besides Barsar in Hamirpur district,” he said. MLA Kumar had demanded that considering the remoteness, at least three schools should be set up in his assembly segment in Anni,
Nirmand and Arsu.
Sukhu, in a written reply to a question asked by Lahaul and Spiti MLA Ravi Thakur, said the department of tourism and civil aviation has proposed an Asian Development Bank-funded project worth ₹60 crore to develop infrastructure at the Atal Tunnel’s north and south portals. The preparation of the detailed project report (DPR) is under progress, Sukhu said, adding that the department has released ₹20.8 crore for the development of tourism infrastructure in Lahaul and Spiti under various schemes. An ecotourism Lahaul haat is proposed to be constructed at Dalang village at a cost of ₹5 crore, of which ₹2.5 crore has been released, he added. The chief minister also said that there is no record of execution of any tourism development project in Lahaul and Spiti by the department of tourism and civil aviation with the assistance of the World Bank.
Vikramaditya seeks Oppn’s cooperation in getting liberal grants from Centre
Public works minister Vikramaditya Singh on Monday sought opposition BJP’s cooperation in getting liberal financial assistance from the Centre. Vikramaditya, in response to the cut motions brought by the Opposition regarding PWD in the assembly on Monday, also said that making roads without drains and cross drainage is an injustice to the people of the state and misuse of public money. It is better that the roads are not built at all, he said. The House later rejected the cut motions by voice vote. The minister said the department is focusing on enhancing interconnectivity by improving the quality of link roads.