Question mark over fate of central govt projects in Congress-ruled Himachal

With the change of guard in Himachal Pradesh from the BJP to Congress, there is a question mark over the fate of several Central government-funded projects that are currently underway or had been just commissioned.

State officials told IANS that the pace of commissioning of most of the projects that gained momentum in the lead-up to the polls has almost come to standstill, largely due to lack of funds and delay in awarding contract for the projects.

The gears of state development appear to be grinding to almost a halt over politics that is getting bad, remarked a newly elected Congress legislator.

He cited the fate of BJP national President J.P. Nadda’s ambitious project, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), a premier hospital, in his hometown Bilaspur, that hangs in balance with delay in purchase of high-cost medical devices and equipment.

AIIMS Bilaspur was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi just days ahead of the Assembly polls.

A senior official with AIIMS Bilaspur said the hospital has been made operational but comes to a standstill largely owing to lack of equipment to treat patients.

“Most of the OPDs are working as a referral centre owing to lack of medical devices,a a senior hospital functionary told IANS on the condition of anonymity, adding “there is no shortage of medical and paramedical staff, but it shouldn’t be surprising that it’s not working”.

A former Cabinet minister and BJP leader blamed the present government led by Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu for being ‘vindictive’ with the decisions and programmes initiated by the previous government.

A day after taking the oath of office, the Chief Minister on December 12 said the state government would take up the matter of restoring the foundation stone plaque of Atal Tunnel Rohtang near Manali laid by Sonia Gandhi in the capacity as chairperson of the National Advisory Council on June, 28, 2010.

He said the plaque was missing, which was an insult to democracy and must be restored at the earliest.

The 9.02-km long horseshoe-shaped Atal Tunnel, the world’s longest motorable tunnel, in Kullu district was built by the Border Road Organisation (BRO) to connect landlocked Lahaul-Spiti district with Manali.

Prime Minister Modi had inaugurated the tunnel, beneath the majestic Rohtang Pass, on October 3, 2020.

In another action of “retaliation”, the Congress government, soon after coming to the helm, announced to scrap over 590 institutions that were commissioned by the previous BJP government, saying they were announced at the fag end of its tenure without allocating budget and making provision of adequate staff.

Most of them were opened with just a single employee, said the Chief Minister.

In the run-up to the polls, the Prime Minister sanctioned Bulk Drug Park to strengthen state’s pharmaceutical hub.

Also the Prime Minister inaugurated the IIIT (Indian Institute of Information Technology) Una, flagged off the inaugural run of the Vande Bharat Express from Amb Andaura to New Delhi and launched the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana-III (PMGSY) scheme.

In total, Modi launched Rs 6,000 crore development works across various sectors ahead of the poll announcement.

In one of his public addresses, he had said: “I believe that the golden period of Himachal’s development is about to begin in the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. This golden period will take Himachal to that height of development for which you all have waited for decades.”

Another ambitious project that has been caught in bureaucratic rigmarole is the construction of the National Highway (NH) 21 that aims to cut down the travel time from Delhi to Kullu to just seven hours.

Till election announcement, it was nearly 80 per cent complete. But, admit state officials, it’s currently being constructed at a slow pace.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, during his visit to the hill state in June 2021, inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of various road projects costing Rs 6,155 crore and assured that they would be completed within two years.

Last year alone, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highway had awarded road construction projects of Rs 15,000 crore.

For Sukhu, who tested positive for coronavirus ahead of meeting Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi on December 19, the another formidable challenge is to end the deadlock with the conglomerate Adani Group that decided to indefinitely suspend operations almost a fortnight now at its two subsidiary cement plants owing to losses by high transportation costs.

The group — which owns ACC plant in Bilaspur district and Ambuja plant in Solan — said the unions prevent cement truck drivers from operating at competitive rates.

However, many see it as a retaliatory step against the newly elected government as the Congress when it was in the opposition had alleged that the cement produced in the state was available at cheaper rates in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana than in the hill state.

Officials admit with the shutting down of the cement plants the ongoing state developmental projects may be hampered badly.

In case of Mahatma Gandhi Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), works related to water conservation and irrigation activities have started hitting owing to shortage of cement, admit an official.

Chief Minister Sukhu on Sunday told the media here the government was concerned about the issue related to cement plants in the state. He said the whole issue was between cement plant management and the truck operators union and would be sorted out soon.

He said the people of the state would get cement at cheaper rates in the days to come.

On the debt on the state, he said: “It is strange the state is reeling under the heavy financial debt trap of over Rs 75,000 crore and the BJP government that claimed to be the government of ‘double engine’ could not even get an assistance of a single penny from the Central government during its tenure.”

Angered over the ‘vindictive’ attitude of the government, a delegation of the BJP, led by newly elected Leader of Opposition, Jai Ram Thakur, called on Governor Rajendra Vishwanatha Arlekar and submitted a memorandum against the Congress government for denotifying the previous government’s decisions.

Himachal Pradesh has not seen any incumbent party returning to power since 1985. Since then both archrivals — the Congress and the BJP — ruled the state alternatively in nine terms.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)

–IANS

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