Una, August 15. Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania attended the district level function organized in Una on Independence Day as the chief guest. He hoisted the national flag in the premises of Government Senior Secondary School Una and addressed the people of the district after taking the salute of the march past. On this occasion, attractive tableaux were taken out on various developmental schemes and colorful cultural programs were also organized.
On this occasion, the Speaker of the Assembly in his address congratulated the people of Una district on Independence Day and paid homage to the sacred memories of all the freedom fighters who fought for the independence of the country. He also remembered the brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect the independence of the country. He said that in the initial years of independence, the state of development in the country was very limited. After independence, most of the goods in the country were imported, and the condition of the country's economy and infrastructure was weak. As democratic governments took over the reins in the country, the process of development started in a planned manner. The country made remarkable progress in many areas like industrialization, infrastructure expansion, accessibility of education and health services and strengthening in the defense sector.
Himachal is the first state to provide social security to orphaned children
The Assembly Speaker said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Thakur Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Himachal Pradesh has emerged as a leading state in the field of social security. Due to the sensitivity of the Chief Minister, Himachal became the first state in the country where 6,000 orphan children have been given government protection by making a law. For those who have no one, the government is playing the role of parents.
He said that the government is playing the role of parents of destitute children till the age of 27 years and is bearing all the expenses of their education and after making them self-reliant, provision has also been made to provide 3 biswa land for building a house. This work not only shows sensitivity towards the society but is also a step towards a model state.
Himachal on new heights of development
Mr Pathania said that at the time of formation of Himachal Pradesh, the development situation was very limited, but today with the cooperation of the government and hardworking people of the state, the state has made unprecedented progress. Today, a strong network of education, health, drinking water, roads and industrial infrastructure has been developed in the state. The present Congress government is continuously improving these areas due to which basic facilities are being made available to the citizens of the state in a better manner.
The heroes of Himachal sacrificed their lives for the security of the country
The speaker of the assembly said that the contribution of Himachal Pradesh in keeping the borders of the country peaceful, safe and strong can never be forgotten. Many brave soldiers from various areas of the state, especially Una district, have sacrificed their lives in the defense of the country. This sacrifice is a symbol of Himachal's bravery and passion for national service.

Special relief package for recovery from natural disasters
Kuldeep Pathania said that in the last two and a half years, heavy rains and floods have caused huge damage in many parts of the state. Una has also suffered heavy damage due to floods. Many precious lives were lost in this disaster. But the state government increased the compensation for the affected people despite its limited resources.
To help the people in the terrible disaster of the year 2023, the state government released a special disaster relief package of Rs 4500 crore to rehabilitate the affected people and increased the compensation amount of the affected people by seven times. Even today, in the hour of crisis, the state government is standing firmly with all the affected people and is providing full help. The government is working with commitment for the rehabilitation of all the affected people. In this year's natural tragedy, the state's government and non-government properties have suffered a loss of about Rs 2,000 crore so far.

It is important to remain alert to challenges along with development, better policies need to be made
Mr Pathania said that while on one hand the state is progressing rapidly in the road, health, education and industrial sectors, on the other hand it is equally important to deal with the challenges arising from natural disasters and environmental imbalance. He stressed that now there is a need to formulate development policies in the state in such a way that there is minimum damage to residential areas, environment and infrastructure.

There is a need to take inspiration from the struggling lives of great men
The Speaker of the Assembly said that today we need to take inspiration from great personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, who spent most of their lives in jails and fought for the freedom, unity and integrity of the nation.
Empowering the youth is the key to progress
He said that today the main goal of the governments of the country is to provide maximum employment opportunities to the youth. Youth are the biggest strength of India, and empowering them is the key to the progress of the country. For this, by giving priority to skill development, technical education and self-employment, doors to a bright future are being opened for the youth.

Inspirational personalities and Karmaveers were honored
On this occasion, the speaker of the assembly honoured the inspirational personalities who have achieved outstanding achievements in social life and contributed to the development of the society as well as the officers and employees of various departments who have done excellent work.
Among them were social worker Zeenat Mahant, Karna Saini who saved lives of people by helping them in Basoli tempo accident, snake catcher father-daughter duo Jitendra Kumar and Kumari Damini, social workers and institutions were honored for environmental protection, social work, drug prevention, help during disaster and help in the service and treatment of helpless animals. Among them were Sandeep Kumar, Devbhoomi Foundation Una, Advaita Foundation, Radha Madhav Seva Sanstha and Animal Rescue Society Una and retired lecturer Satish Sharma.
At the same time, District Program Officer (ICDS) Narendra Kumar was honored for effectively implementing the public welfare schemes of the government on the ground and Technical Assistant of Information Public Relations Department Narendra Kumar was honored for his out-of-the-box work in wide publicity of the public welfare schemes of the government.
Apart from this, the excellent workers of Deputy Commissioner's Office, Municipal Corporation Office, Police, Health, Jalshakti, Home Guards, Sainik Welfare Board, Lekhraj, Balveer Singh, Naresh Kumari, Rajindra Saini, Shivani Thakur, Vijay Kumar, Dimple, Abhirana, Birwal, including Police ASI Tarlochan Singh, Head Constable Jogeshdeep, Sodhi Ram, Sunny Sharma, Amarjot Singh, Constable Rakesh Kumar, Rajiv Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Amrik Singh and Home Guard and Fire Station's Ashok Kumar, Suresh Kumar, Meena Devi, Jaipal Sharma, Ashwini Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Mukesh Kumar, Chandra Mohan, Daksh Kumar, Amit Kumar Jagdev Chand, Surjeet Singh, Tek Singh, Purna Singh, Ranjeet Singh, Janak Raj, Pyara Singh, Hardayal Singh and Tikka Khan were felicitated.

On this occasion, the students and friends of PM Shri Kendriya Vidyalaya Saloh, Government Senior Secondary School Boys and Girls Una, Triple IT Una and Government Senior Secondary School Kutharkalan as well as the police men and women category who presented the march past, Home Guards NCC, NSS and Bharat Scouts and Guides cadets were also awarded.
Earlier, the speaker of the assembly paid homage to the brave martyrs by offering a wreath at the Martyr's Memorial located at MC Park.

These were present
On this occasion, Chintpurni MLA Sudarshan Bablu, Bangana MLA Vivek Sharma, State SC Commission Chairman Kuldeep Dhiman, former Una MLA Satpal Raizada, SC Commission member Advocate Vijay Dogra, senior Congress leader Ranjeet Rana, Deputy Commissioner Una Jatin Lal, Superintendent of Police Amit Yadav, Assistant Commissioner Una Varinder Sharma, SDM Una Vishwa Mohan Dev Chauhan along with other dignitaries and a large number of local people and school children were present.