Himachal Congress state general secretary and former Forest Minister Ram Lal Thakur has condemned the present functioning of the Rs 560-crore World Bank funded “Mid Himalaya Watershed Development Project” in the state, which was awarded to the state in Asia due to his strenuous efforts while he was the state Forest Minister.
Talking to mediapersons at the Circuit House here recently, Thakur said the present functioning of the project had destroyed its fundamental character of “social association and participation” and the day was not far when the project, which was a continuing project of having potential of bringing around Rs 7,000 crore of the World Bank to Himachal, would be abruptly ended in the state by this financing agency due to it being turned into a “contractor-oriented” venture.
He said lakhs of rupees were spent on training of technical personnel for this project, apart from its having been associated with a large number of departments like Agriculture, Horticulture, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Panchayati Raj.
But now the state has committed a “grave mistake” by removing all the technical personnel, who were under contract to work till the completion of this project, from service and by getting all the work done through contractors.
Via: TribuneIndia
