Up to Centre to expedite AIIMS project: CM

Tribune News Service

Shimla, December 6

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said that the state government had done its bit by handing over the land for the setting up of AIIMS at Bilaspur but now it is for the Centre to expedite the project, which was being delayed for reasons best known to the Central Government only.

He was addressing a rally today at Soldha in Shree Naina Devi Assembly constituency of Bilaspur district.

“It is the Centre which has to now accord the necessary approval, including the forest clearance, for the AIIMS at Bilaspur which will prove to be very beneficial for the people of the state,” he stated.

Virbhadra said the state government should get its due share from the Centre as it was the legitimate right of every state to get assistance and projects. “It is the state government which provides land for implementing the Centrally aided projects and it is wrong on the part of any MP to demand that he has the right to inaugurate or lay foundation stone of any such centrally aided project,” he said.

The Chief Minister said the state had progressed by leaps and bounds under successive Congress regimes. As of now, besides AIIMS, three more medical colleges were being opened in the state at Nahan, Hamirpur and Chamba. He said that as of today Himachal had as much as 37,000 kilometers of road length, besides, 100 per cent electrification.

Chairman, Twenty Point Programme Implementation Committee, Ram Lal Thakur, thanked the CM for dedicating projects worth Rs 11 crore in his constituency today.

He said the propaganda of BJP to defame and destabilise Virbhadra Singh had strengthened the Chief Minister even more. Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Rajesh Dharmani also addressed the gathering.