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Himachal: Shanta Kumar welcomes government move to impose water cess
Shanta Kumar said state will get an annual income of ₹4,000 crore from it and there would be no burden on consumers. “While being the CM, I had made the decision to take 12% free electricity as royalty in hydropower projects built in Himachal,” he said. Kumar welcomed the move to impose water cess
Veteran BJP leader and former Union minister Shanta Kumar on Wednesday heaped praises on the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government for its decision to impose water cess on hydropower generation as it will up the revenue of the state.
In a press statement, the former chief minister said the state will get an annual income of around ₹4,000 crore from it and there would be no burden on consumers.
“While being the CM, I had made the decision to take 12% free electricity as royalty in hydropower projects built in Himachal,” he said.
He also praised the Congress government for ordering doctors in state-run institutions to prescribe only generic medicines to patients.
“The health minister has announced that every doctor in Himachal Pradesh will prescribe only generic medicines. As the chairman of the standing committee in the Lok Sabha, I had done a deep study on this subject for two years. The committee had suggested to the government that India’s generic medicine is low-priced, of good quality, but the common man do not get it because doctors prescribe only branded medicines due to higher commission,” he said.
“I am happy but also skeptical as many states have made such announcements in the past but never implemented them. If Himachal implements the decision, it will be a great achievement of the Sukhu government and it is only then that I will congratulate them,” he said.
He also criticised the government for closing down the offices and institutions opened by the previous government and said it was done in a haste.
“These institutions were opened in a hurry without planning by the previous government and the new government showed similar hurry in closing them down,” he said.
“It is appropriate to close a school where there are no children, but it is illogical to shut the school where students have enrolled and teachers have joined or a hospital where a doctor had been posted and common public was getting services,” he said.
