Dharamshala: In the face of protests by the opposition about misuse of funds for holding a global investors meet here a month ago, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur relented and let the winter session of the assembly know that about Rs 24 crores was the expected expenditure for holding the event that was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7th November.
Speaking on the second day of the session the chief minister said that the central government had released Rs 12 crores for meeting the expenses of the investors meet. However, he was not categorical about the full expenditure saying that full details of the expenditure were yet to be tabulated as some bills were yet to be paid and and some were under review.
In response to the discussion brought under Rule 130 after the opposition raised the issue of the expenditure of Global Investors Meet, the Chief Minister said that Himachal Government has succeeded in getting Global Investor Meat at a much lower cost than other states. He informed ,”relatively high expenditure has been met in by the other states.” He told the House that in Uttarakhand about 35 crores was spent on such meet and about 68 crore rupees were spent in Jharkhand. This amount is even much higher in Uttar Pradesh.
The Chief Minister said that the Central Government has given an amount of about 12 crores for organizing the meet. Another major achievement of the government is that we are receiving grant from many sources. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India has issued an acceptance letter of Rs 1 crore for the event. In addition, the Ministry of Tourism is releasing an amount of Rs 1 crore, the Ministry of External Affairs is providing an amount of Rs 10 lakh. An amount of Rs 25 lakh has been released by WAPCOS Limited, a mini ratna company of the Government of India. 22 lakhs is required by the two oil companies. An amount of one crore has been released by SJVNL. Apart from this, an amount of about 12 lakh rupees has been received in lieu of the fee of exhibition stalls of private entrepreneurs. He said that it is clear from these figures that from the financial point of view this meeting has been an unprecedented success and if we keep in mind the amount of grant and income, then the cost of organizing this global conference of the state government is only 11-12. There is a possibility of crores of rupees.
Earlier, Industry Minister Bikram Thakur also told the House that the Congress leaders who walked out, were also invited to come but they did not come. He said that the meet held at Dharamshala on November 7 and 8 proved to be a very successful event, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi himself. 200 delegates from 36 countries participated in the event. Ambassadors and representatives from 10 countries participated. 32 big houses from abroad took part in this meet. He said that about 96 thousand crore MoUs have been signed in the meet, which is a big achievement.
Earlier in this discussion, in the absence of opposition, MLA Balvir Singh, Narendra Bragta, Hoshiar Singh, Rakesh Jambal, Kishori Lal, Paramjit Singh, JR Katwal, Balvir Verma, Rakesh Pathania, Sukh Ram and CPI-M MLA Rakesh Singha Also participated.
Arvind Sharma is an award winning bi-lingual journalist with more than 20 years of experience.
He has worked with Divya Himachal, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhasker, Vir Partap, Ajit and PTI.
In 2010, he was conferred the Himachal Kesri journalism award. He reports on the Tibetan Government in Exile, politics, sports, tourism and other topics. He lives in Dharamshala.
