Centre doing gross injustice to Himachal Pradesh: Dhumal

Addressing the National Conference of BJP's youth wing here, Dhumal said Atal Behari Vajpayee not only provided liberal financial assistance to Himachal Pradesh but also sanctioned special industrial package to it along with Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir for ten years to give a boost to development and employment generation.

"However, doing gross injustice with these states, the UPA government restricted the time span of the industrial package from 2013 to 2010," he said.

Drawing a comparison between the NDA and UPA governments at the Centre, he said while Vajpayee government never discriminated against any state, the Congress-led coalition was discriminatory in its approach.

Crediting Vajpayee with giving a vision for the development of Himachal Pradesh, he claimed the BJP government was working overtime to achieve the goal of turning the state into an education hub.

Now the state is emerging as an education hub in northern India with 11 private universities, one technical university and other quality higher professional educational institutions, he said.

To provide relief to the common man, the government is providing essential foodgrains including three pulses, two varieties of edible oil and salt on subsidized rates to more than 16,000 ration card holders of the state, he said.

The Chief Minister said efforts are on to develop tourism as an industry by giving a boost to religious and adventure tourism.