State had witnessed uniform and balanced development during past four years. This was stated by Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, while addressing local public at the Government Degree College campus, Nagrota Bagwan after dedicating the College building, constructed at a cost of Rs. eight crore to the students of Nagrota Bagwan.
Chief Minister said that development of the state was being done by rising above all considerations so that people in all parts of the state are benefited at large. He said that the areas which had lagged in development had been given added attention to bring them at par with the developed one so that State as a whole could progress by leaps and bounds. He said that priority had been given to the backward areas. He said that the State had been integrated emotionally and there was no discrimination in upper and lower areas. He said that emotional and regional barriers created during preceding regime had been removed and entire state was making rapid strides on developmental front.
Chief Minister said that education had been on the priority agenda of the Government and quality education was being ensured. He said that adequate funds had been made available for improvement of infrastructure in educational institutions during past four years. He said that the work on college building at Nagrota Bagwan was expedited only by the Government for which adequate budget provisions was made to complete it in a time bound manner.
Earlier Chief Minister laid foundation stone of Science Block in Government Degree College Dharamshala, estimated to cost Rs. 7.03 crore. Ishwar Dass Dhiman, Education Minister, said that Rs. 3,165 crore had been made available to strengthen the education sector during current financial year. He said that the state was spending 19 percent of the budget on education which was highest in the country. At national level also only 4.7 percent was being spent on education. He said that the teacher pupil ratio in the state was 1:16 whereas it was 1:40 at the national level.
G.S. Bali, local MLA, welcomed the Chief Minister and thanked him for dedicating the new college building to the students of the college. He also apprised Chief Minister of various demands of the area. Ram Chand Bhatia, former MLA, also welcomed the Chief Minister and detailed developmental activities which had taken place in the segment during past four years.
Ravinder Singh Ravi, IPH Minister, Parveen Sharma, MLA, Kripal Parmar, former MP, Shreshta Koundal, Chairperson, Zila Parishad, Dr. O.P. Sharma, Director of Education, R.S. Gupta, Deputy Commissioner, Diljeet Thakur, Superintendent of Police, other senior officers and prominent people of the area were present on the occasion.
