Govt doing its best to provide potable water to people: Stokes

Irrigation-cum-public health minister Vidya Stokes on Saturday evening said the state government was doing its best to provide clean drinking water to people of the state. Addressing a gathering at Kot village, she said Rs 328 crore were spent in the state during the current financial year under various water supply programmes.

She also laid the foundation stone of a water supply scheme costing about Rs 1,158 lakh that will benefit people of 14 gram panchayats of the Sujanpur assembly segment. Local MLA Rajender Rana was accompanying the minister.

She said by the end of January 2014, as many as 39,228 'bastis' of the state had been provided with the water supply facilities. As many as 1,315 hand pumps were also set up in various parts of the state during the current financial year.

Stokes hit out at the BJP for saying that the state government was not doing anything for people of the state. She said in fact, it was the BJP that had ignored people of the state in general and Hamirpur district in particular during its previous tenure.

She called upon the people to help the Congress form government on its own at the Centre by voting for the party nominees in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Local MLA Rajender Rana also addressed the people and said the Congress was working for their welfare. Though the function was attended by people from Kot and surrounding area, office-bearers of the Congress close to state party president Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu were absent from the meeting.

From the camp of chief minister Virbhadra Singh, former MLA Kuldip Singh Pathania was present at the function.

The traditional Congress leader and workers have been opposing Rajender Rana's joining the party and that is why they are not attending such party functions where Rana is present. If the situation continues to be so, it will be difficult for the Congress to face a united BJP in Hamirpur district in the Lok Sabha elections.