Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur today said that the state government is endeavouring to realise the dream of founder Chief Minister of HP, late Dr YS Parmar by making the hill state a role model.

Paying tributes to Dr Parmar on his 114th birth anniversary in a simple but impressive function here, Thakur said the first CM of HP pleaded for the merger of those hilly areas of Punjab with Himachal Pradesh which had similar culture and lifestyle.

“It was the vision of Dr Parmar that the state’s agrarian economy, particularly the horticulture sector, made rapid strides,” he said. He said that Dr Parmar was a multi-faceted personality who had left an indelible mark in the hearts of lakhs and lakhs of people of the state because of his simplicity and down-to-earth nature.

He said that it was due to tireless efforts of Dr Parmar that Himachal Pradesh became the 18th state of Indian Union and since then it had fast progressed ahead on the path of development and prosperity.

He said that Dr Parmar was respected by the people of all walks of life above political considerations. “Dr Parmar knew that roads were the life lines for development of this hilly state, so he stressed on construction of roads in the state. He was also in favour of motivating the farmers for cultivation of cash crops. It was on his motivation that people started growing apples which today has emerged as a Rs 5000 crore economy. It was also due to his vision that Himachal Pradesh kept protecting its forest wealth,” he said.

Thakur said that each and every Chief Minister of the state had made immense contributions towards development and progress of the state. He said that the present state government is also striving hard to realize the dream of Dr Parmar of a strong, vibrant and self-reliant Himachal Pradesh.

He said that the state government had decided to celebrate the 50th year of statehood of Himachal Pradesh in a befitting manner, but it was not possible due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier, the Chief Minister paid floral tributes to Dr. Parmar at Vidhan Sabha Complex where he was joined by Speaker and Deputy Speaker Vidhan Sabha, leader of opposition, cabinet ministers, MLAs, former MLAs.

Speaker HP Vidhan Sabha Vipin Singh Parmar said that the state had today emerged as a role model and was steadily forging ahead on the path of progress and prosperity due to the sound foundation laid by Dr. Parmar.

He said that Dr Parmar made the Centre realize that the developmental needs of hilly states were different from other states of the country.

Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri said that the journey of Himachal Pradesh was in fact the journey of hard work of Dr Y.S. Parmar. He said that Dr. Parmar left all the luxuries of life and chose the path of struggle for maintaining a separate identity of this hilly state. He said that 25 January, 1971 was indeed the red letter day in the annals of Himachal Pradesh as it was due to hard work of Dr Parmar that Himachal Pradesh got its separate identity as statehood.