Shanta Kumar lauded govt move to impose water cess

Veteran BJP leader and former Union Minister Shanta Kumar stated this on Wednesday in a statement here. He said state will get an annual income of ₹4,000 crore from it and there would be no burden on consumers.

Shanta Kumar said, “While being the Chief Minister of this hill state , I had made the decision to take 12% free electricity as royalty in hydropower projects built in Himachal. ”

He also praised the Congress government for ordering doctors in state-run institutions to prescribe only generic medicines to patients.

Former Chief minister said , “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 added.

“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 asserted.

Shanta Kumar, who is known for his genuine stand said that It was appropriate to close a school where there were no children, but it was illogical to shut the school where students had enrolled and teachers had joined or a hospital where a doctor had been posted and common public was getting services.