India News | Efforts on to Establish Himachal as Model State: Guv Arlekar

New Delhi, Nov 11 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Thursday said the state was on the path of development after facing difficult challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Addressing the conference of Governors and Lieutenant Governors at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, he said he himself was making efforts to establish the hilly region as an ideal state by contributing towards various social issues.

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President Ram Nath Kovind presided over the day-long conference in the presence of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Arlekar said despite the difficult geographical conditions, Himachal Pradesh became the first state in the country to administer first dose of Covid vaccine to 100 per cent of the adult population.

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He said tourism activities are being promoted in the state by organizing fairs based on the specialty of each district.

This would also provide a platform and market to the local products, realising Prime Minister's vision of 'Vocal for Local', he said, adding that cleanliness and environmental protection were among his priorities.

He said that in order to make the working of Raj Bhavan transparent, Himachal Raj Bhavan has been completely converted into an e-office with effect from October 22 this year.

Speaking about the 'Har Ghar Pathshala' programme of the state government, he said Himachal Pradesh started this unique programme from April 2020 to continue smooth education of the students during the lockdown, which benefited about eight lakh students.

The Governor said immense progress has been made in natural farming in the state and more than 1.5 lakh farmers have adopted natural farming under Subhash Palekar Prakritik Kheti. These agricultural activities are being carried on 1.2 lakh bighas of land in the state.

He informed that the State Red Cross is developing an ultra-modern blood bank in Nalagarh along with the district administration and Indian Red Cross. The blood bank, Arlekar said, will be made functional soon.

He also raised the issue of drug smuggling and substance consumption and said work is being done at every level to curb this menace.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)