BJP govt gave away land worth crores for just Rs 1.12 cr: Sukhu

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today alleged that the BJP government gave away 5,000 bighas of land worth hundreds of crores to big industrial houses for just Rs 1.12 crore under the guise of customised packages. The Chief Minister inaugurated and laid foundation stones of 12 development projects worth Rs 383 crore in Baddi.

The CM distributed relief of Rs 17.62 lakh to 18 disaster-affected families and cheques of Rs 17.03 lakh to 15 beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna-Grameen. He also presented nutrition kits to three tuberculosis patients under Tuberculosis Eradication Programme.

While addressing a gathering at Baddi during his day’s tour, he launched a scathing attack on the previous BJP government for turning a blind eye to corruption. “The stamp duty was waived and provisions were made to supply electricity at Rs 3 per unit for five years besides providing free water under this package. As long as I am Chief Minister, I will not allow the state’s assets to be plundered. We are custodians of Himachal Pradesh’s resources,” he asserted.

“In a bid to safeguard the interests of Himachal, we returned Rs 30 crore received from the Centre for bulk drug park and decided to develop it on our own,” informed the CM.

“The BJP’s social media cell is targeting me because I took stringent measures to curb corruption,” he added and elaborated upon developmental initiatives of his government in the health and education sector.

He reiterated that he has repeatedly offered to accompany all seven BJP MPs to seek financial assistance from the Centre for the disaster-affected families. “The Prime Minister himself had announced a package of Rs 1,500 crore but we have not received the funds yet and we were helping the families with our own resources,” he informed.

“Facilities in Baddi must be in sync with the growing population,” stated the CM while announcing a Public Works Department division, upgrade of Civil Hospital besides construction of the SDM’s office, a sports stadium and modern bus stand.

Baddi, Barotiwala and Chandi schools would have CBSE curriculum from the next academic session, as per his announcement.

MLA Doon Ram Kumar, while speaking on the occasion, said that development works worth Rs 475 crore were already underway. He added that the new 50-bed hospital at Baddi was a major milestone.