Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu inaugurated the cultural evening of the five-day National-Level Sharad-utsav (Winter Carnival, Manali) at Manu Rangshala on Monday and said that the art, culture and traditions of the state presents a rich legacy of the state and events like Sharad-utsav play a crucial role in preserving this heritage and passing it on to future generations.

This was the third time the Chief Minister participated in the Winter Carnival. He said that the event, which was previously held in early January, has been rescheduled to 20 January to sustain tourist activity in the region beyond the New Year period.

Calling Manali the “Heart of Himachal,” Sukhu underlined the commitment of the state government towards enhancing the tourism infrastructure of the town and said that a tourism development project, approved by the Asian Development Bank, has been launched in Manali. This project includes establishing a wellness centre, refurbishing the Naggar Castle and creating facilities such as an ice skating and a roller skating rink, with an investment of Rs. 150 crore. Additionally, an action plan has been prepared to address the traffic congestion and enhance facilities for the visitors.

Sukhu announced Rs. 15 crore for the construction of a bridge connecting Rangdi to the left bank to alleviate traffic at Manali entrance on the request of local  MLA and also announced plans to develop a hot water bath facility, a nature park and other amenities at Kalath, leveraging the natural hot springs in the area. He also announced an increase in the incentive for women groups who participated in the Carnival's Shobha Yatra to Rs. 30,000 and  lauded their efforts in preserving traditional attire and local culinary traditions.

On the occasion, he also honoured the winners of the Ski mountaineering Competition, which aims to promote winter sports and tourism in Manali. The Chief Minister attended the cultural programme on the inaugural evening, delighting the audience by singing a few lines of a Hindi song on the request of singer Rajiv Thapa. Later, he strolled along the Mall Road of Manali and interacted with locals and tourists and enjoyed the vibrant atmosphere.

CM dedicates development projects for Kangra

During his winter sojourn to Kangra district, Sukhu also laid the foundation stones of four development projects worth Rs. Rs.88.68 crore in the Kangra Assembly Constituency. 

Addressing a public gathering at Matour in the Kangra Assembly constituency, he announced the setting up of a division of the Jal Shakti Department in Kangra and assured the introduction of new courses in Matour College besides strengthening water and electricity schemes in the area. The construction work for the Rajiv Gandhi Day Boarding School in Kangra would begin soon and he also announced plans to construct a new bridge over Jalodi Khad.

Sukhu said that the government was committed to revitalize the rural economy, as over 80 percent of the population of the state resides in rural areas and highlighted several measures to strengthen the rural sector. He criticized the previous BJP government education policy, which led to the decline of enrollment in schools and assured that the present government was working to improve the education system to meet future challenges.  He said that the present state government has also made reforms in the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) norms to  evaluate performance of all officers and officials of the State Government.

Necessary reforms were being made in the health sector. The Government is providing state-of-the-art medical equipments in medical colleges of the state, similar to those at AIIMS Delhi. A sum of Rs. 100 crore has been sanctioned for advanced machinery in Tanda, IGMC and Ner Chowk Medical Colleges. Additionally, UV filter technology is being adopted to improve water quality in the state, he remarked.