CM Sukhu announces ₹100cr for disaster-hit families
The CM, during his 79th Independence Day speech, announced a series of measures to address recurring disasters in Himachal. 'Frequent disasters have caused heavy losses to life and property,' he said.
Referring to the massive losses incurred during the 2023 disaster, which caused damages of ₹10,000 crore, Sukhu highlighted the disparity in the state's financial aid. 'Despite the central government's own assessment, Himachal received only ₹1,500 crore, that too after two years,' he said, adding that this year's disasters, especially in Mandi district, have caused severe damage. The state has not received any financial assistance from the Centre so far.
'The state government had already disbursed ₹360.42 crore from its own resources to aid the affected families. I hope the Centre will soon extend financial support to disaster-affected families,' he added.
On the education front, Sukhu praised the reforms implemented by the state government, positioning Himachal fifth in the country for quality education. 'Teachers in all government institutions will no longer retire in the middle of the academic session, but at the end of the session,' Sukhu said. He also revealed plans to open 200 CBSE curriculum-based schools and fill 9,535 teaching posts in the coming days.
In a bid to bring transparency, Sukhu addressed the issue of corruption in the previous BJP-led government's recruitment processes. 'The Himachal Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Board, a hub of corruption, has been disbanded,' he said. 'In its place, the Rajya Chayan Aayog will conduct computer-based tests to ensure transparency.'
'Merit-based selection will now include both written exam and interview marks, with stringent measures to combat cheating, including a provision for three years' imprisonment for exam-related offences. For this, the government will bring a bill in the next assembly session,' he said.
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'Crores' of people have their addresses listed as zero because their panchayats or municipalities have not numbered their homes, Kumar said, adding that the EC provides 'notional numbers' to such electors which is 'displayed as zero on the computer'. 'This doesn't mean they are not electors.' Electoral roll and voting different While Gandhi had alleged that there were instances where the same voter was enlisted in several polling booths, Kumar said that one voter can only vote once despite their name being present multiple times. He did not provide any answers to why an elector's name was appearing multiple times in the electoral rolls in the first place. Gandhi had showed various examples in his August 7 press conference where electors were found to appear multiple times in the electoral rolls in different booths. A voter 'can only vote once. How is it vote theft if their name is there twice in the electoral rolls? It is not possible. Each voter can only vote once. 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The Hindu
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