CM participates in District level Makar Sankranti festival at Tattapani

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], January 15 : Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Saturday participated in District level 'Makar Sakranti Mela' at Tattapani.
During his address, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that amongst the few decision taken, after the formation of the congress government in the state, the very first was to bring the Chief Minister, Ministers and MLA at par with the general public when it comes to the payment of rent for their stay in Himachal Bhawan, Himachal Sadan and other circuit houses of the state.
He said that including the Chief Minister, the Ministers and MLAs would also now have to pay Rs. 1200 instead of Rs. 200 for their stay in Himachal Bhawan, Himachal Sadan and Circuit houses in the state.
Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu assured that the State Government was committed to ensuring the welfare of needy children, especially orphans, destitute women and senior citizens. He said that on the very first day after taking oath as the Chief Minister, he visited the Girl Child Care Institute, (Balika Ashram) Tutikandi, in Shimla, and observed that a lot more was to be done for destitute children, women and senior citizens. He said that the government has decided to provide a festival grant of Rs 500 to the residents of Child Care Institutions, Nari Seva Sadan, Shakti Sadan and Old Age Homes to celebrate the festivals.
Chief Minister stated that the state government has decided to set up Chief Minister's 'Sukhashray Sahayata Kosh' with an outlay of Rs 101 crore so that the facility of higher education could be provided to needy children and destitute women out of this fund. The state government will bear the expenditure on skill development education, higher education and vocational training of such children, he said, adding that he has contributed his one-month salary towards this fund and other Congress MLAs have also agreed to contribute their one-month salary towards the Kosh.
Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that in its first Cabinet, the State Government announced to implementation Old Pension Scheme from the point of view of social security and humanity. He said that this decision of the State Government would benefit over 1.36 lakh NPS employees of the State.
Launching a scathing attack on the BJP, CM said that during the tenure of the previous government, the paper leak scam was at its peak.
"The Congress Government, soon after coming to power, cracked paper leak scam which was going unabated in the Staff Selection Commission Hamirpur for over quite some period and nabbed the main accused," he said, adding that the State Government immediately suspended the functioning of the Commission.
Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that a Cabinet Sub Committee has been constituted for finalizing the roadmap for implementation of the promises made by the Congress Party during the elections for creating one lakh employment opportunities in the State.
Chief Minister slammed the previous BJP Government and accused the party of leaving the state in a heavy debt trap of over Rs 75000 crore due to their financial mismanagement and wasteful expenditure.
The NPS Employees of Mandi district also felicitated the Chief Minister for announcing OPS for them.
A colourful cultural programme was also presented on the occasion.