SHIMLA- 2 August, 2025

CM seeks special relief measures from Union Environment Minister

• Urges relaxation in forest norms for rehabilitation of disaster-affected families

Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu called on the Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav at New Delhi on Friday evening.

He apprised the Union Minister about the losses incurred by the state due to recent cloud bursts and heavy rains and added that heavy losses occurred to buildings and infrastructure , roads, bridges, water supply schemes, residential properties besides losses to precious human lives during the current monsoons.

Sh. Sukhu urged the Union Minister to allow the allocation of one bigha land for the rehabilitation of disaster-affected families, who have rendered homeless and landless. With 68 percent of the State under forest cover, he emphasized the need to relax forest norms to facilitate rehabilitation.

He also held discussions about dredging in rivers and urged to give necessary directions for disposal of the dredged material for disaster prevention. He also urged that separate norms should be fixed for hill states keeping in view their tough topography and special needs.

He also apprised the Union Minister about frequent recurrence of cloud bursts leading to natural disasters and severe losses. He informed that the matter was discussed with Home Minister and a team had visited the state to study the impact of climate change.

Deputy Chief Whip Kewal Singh Pathania, MLAs Sanjay Awasthy, Suresh Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary Forest K.K Pant, Principal Resident Commissioner Ajay Yadav and senior officers of State Government and the Ministry were present in the meeting.

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CM seeks special relief measures from Union Environment Minister

• Urges relaxation in forest norms for rehabilitation of disaster-affected families

Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu called on the Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav at New Delhi on Friday evening.

He apprised the Union Minister about the losses incurred by the state due to recent cloud bursts and heavy rains and added that heavy losses occurred to buildings and infrastructure , roads, bridges, water supply schemes, residential properties besides losses to precious human lives during the current monsoons.

Sh. Sukhu urged the Union Minister to allow the allocation of one bigha land for the rehabilitation of disaster-affected families, who have rendered homeless and landless. With 68 percent of the State under forest cover, he emphasized the need to relax forest norms to facilitate rehabilitation.

He also held discussions about dredging in rivers and urged to give necessary directions for disposal of the dredged material for disaster prevention. He also urged that separate norms should be fixed for hill states keeping in view their tough topography and special needs.

He also apprised the Union Minister about frequent recurrence of cloud bursts leading to natural disasters and severe losses. He informed that the matter was discussed with Home Minister and a team had visited the state to study the impact of climate change.

Deputy Chief Whip Kewal Singh Pathania, MLAs Sanjay Awasthy, Suresh Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary Forest K.K Pant, Principal Resident Commissioner Ajay Yadav and senior officers of State Government and the Ministry were present in the meeting.

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CM emphasizes to keep religion separate from politics

Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu chaired the second session of the National Conclave " Constitutional Challenges : Perspective & Pathways " organised by the AICC Law, Human Rights and RTI department at Vigyan Bhawan today. The topic for second session was " Religion & the Constitution: Guardrails and Guidelines ".

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that religion should be a personal matter for every individual and State' should be Secular in their approach. He said that every religion should be respected and we should uphold our ancient traditions of peace and brotherhood.

The Chief Minister said that every religion was respected in our country and therein lies the basis of our rich traditions of unity and brotherhood. We are known for our religious tolerance and added that in the absence of rich values, there always remains a possibility of emergence of violence and conflicts in the society.

He said that religion should not be used for dividing people and every effort should be made to separate religion from politics.

Former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Senior Congress leaders Digvijay Singh, Dr Abhishek Singhvi, Alka Lamba, Pramod Tiwari and others also spoke on the occasion.

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Cooperative Societiesgoing digital : Mukesh Agnihotri

· Rs. 53 crore sanctioned for PACS computerization in State

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri today here said that the state government was taking swift measures to connect co-operative societies with a digital and transparent system. To strengthen and modernize the co-operative sector, a comprehensive computerization programme has been launched to ensure greater transparency, efficiency and accountability in the functioning of these societies.

He said that as public money was involved in these societies, therefore transparency in their operations was of utmost importance. A total budget of Rs. 53 crore has been approved for the computerization of 1,789 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) in the state. So far, Rs. 22.18 crore has been spent for the development of these societies.

In the first phase, computerization of 870 PACS has been completed. In the second phase, 919 PACS have been selected for computerization.

Shri Agnihotri said that this initiative was not just about technical upgrades but was a significant step towards building social trust and improving economic governance. The move was expected to curb embezzlement and irregularities, thereby making the functioning of these societies more transparent and result-oriented.

To strengthen the audit mechanism of these societies, the Cooperation Department has appointed 30 master trainers who would provide training to auditors across the state. The target was to complete the audit of all cooperative societies by 30 September, 2025.

Apart from this, the state government was developing 1,153 PACS into Common Service Centres (CSCs), where over 300 digital services such as Tele-Law, Telemedicine, pensions, certificates and banking services would be made available. This would ensure access of the government services to the rural populace in their own village, said the Minister.

He said that to further improve transparency the cooperative societies in the state were being linked to the National Cooperative Database to enable Geographic Information System (GIS)-based monitoring of the societies and enhance transparency in administrative decisions and policy-making.

The Deputy Chief Minister said that the State Government was committed to strengthen the rural economy by empowering cooperative societies and making them self-reliant and technologically sound.