Virbhadra welcomes Union Budget

Shimla, Mar 1 (UNI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today welcomed the Union Budget presented in the Parliament yesterday and the Railway Budget presented in the Parliament on February 24, saying they were development and growth oriented.

Talking to reporters here, he said the Budget was good for the overall development and would help in carrying on the process of industrialisation of the country.

''The special thrust given in the Budget for the electrification programme will specially benefit Himachal Pradesh, as it had one fourth of the country's total identified hydel power,'' he said.

Mr Singh said the Centre's emphasis on schemes like the Rajeev Gandhi Drinking Water Scheme and the National Rural Health Mission were the high points of the Budget.

''It is for the first time that quality health programmes are being implemented in the villages.'' Lauding the central government for providing free education to girl students after eighth standard, he said the policies and the programmes were reflective of the pro-people approach of the government.

The Chief Minister also praised the Finance Minister for laying special emphasis on the development of the agriculture sector, saying a decision to give short term agricultural loans at the rate of seven per cent to the farmers, was a step in this direction.

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