All panchayats in HP to be connected with motorable roads

Una, Jan 18 (UNI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said all gram panchayats in the state will be connected with motorable roads before the next Assembly elections.

Addressing a public meeting here, he said only 250 gram panchayats in the state were left to be connected with motorable roads.

Mr Singh said successive Congress governments had ushered in a lot of development in the state.

He said, of the total 21,000 MW hydel power generation potential in the State, 6,000 MW was currently being produced, while work on generation of another 4,500 MW was in progress.

Youth in the State would be provided 70 per cent employment in these projects as per the norms, he said.

In the industrial sector, he said an investment of Rs 24,000 crore had been received during the last three years in the state.

Accusing the state BJP of failing to fulfil its duty as the state's main Opposition party, he said the party under Mr P K Dhumal was sliding to obscurity.

''At the recent Winter Session at Dharamshala, the party abstained focusing its attention towards price rise, unemployment and the problems being faced by the farmers,'' he said.

Alleging that the previous BJP regime was corrupt, he said former HP Subordinate Services Selection Board Chairman S M Katwal's conviction in three corruption cases was a slap on the face of the then Chief Minister.

Deliberating on the need for by-elections to the Hamirpur parliamentary seat, the CM said this was because the BJP incumbent was expelled from the Lok Sabha for taking bribe.

Taking a dig at the national BJP, he said there was a leadership crisis and multiplicity of command within the party.

Earlier, the CM laid the foundation stones for the 132 KVA electrical sub station at Gagret, and a bridge in Pirthipur village, inaugurated a PWD rest house at Daulatpur Chowk and water supply schemes at Joh and Ganu Mandwara.

UNI