Come out with new schemes, tourism projects: CM to planners

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 21

As the Centre remained non-committal on the “industrial-cum-bailout package”, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur today urged state planners and officers to come out with new schemes and tourism projects. He also asked them to find ways and means to fund these and ease norms for roping in private investors for fast-tracking development of the state. The Chief Minister was chairing the State Planning Board meeting.

Feeling the pinch of an “empty state treasury reeling under a huge debt burden of Rs 45,000 crore”, the Chief Minister asked the officers and planners to think “out of the box” so that the state was back on the track of development.

Thakur advocated big tourism projects and tapping of hydropower, easing of norms for roping in private investors to create employment opportunities for the state youth. “We have to think out of the box to give fillip to such sectors in which we can excel or compete with other states”, he told the planners.

He said, “I know we have limited funds for new schemes, but we can get these projects funded by various funding agencies with assistance from the Centre. The officers who come out with innovative schemes will be rewarded”.

The Chief Minister cited legal hurdles such as Section 118 of the Himachal Pradesh Land Act, which had closed the door for the private sector to invest, limiting the scope of creating employment and development mainly in the tourism sector. “We need to create a competitive environment for investment so that more youth can be employed and more households raise their economic status”, he said.

He said they also needed to explore ways to tap 27,000 MW hydropower potential of the state. “We have harnessed only 10,500 MW and we need to ease norms for the private investors”, Thakur said.

But the Chief Minister cautioned the state planners that before submitting proposals on new schemes, interest of farmers and the people needed to be protected.

The Chief Minister said whenever there was a change it was either welcomed or criticised or protested.

“But the positive change provides them with more sustainable livelihood opportunities, raising their economic standards”, he added.