Yog Raj Sharma
The North News
New Delhi, December 12
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday announced a series of measures aimed at expanding livelihood opportunities, improving infrastructure and strengthening public services in the state’s tribal districts. Chairing the 50th meeting of the Tribal Advisory Council in New Delhi, Sukhu said the government would offer a subsidy of up to 40 percent to eligible youth for purchasing buses and traveller vehicles, along with a four-month exemption from road tax. The initiative, he said, was designed to boost employment in the transport sector across remote tribal regions.
To promote self-employment in clean energy, the Chief Minister said interest subsidies would be provided for private solar projects ranging from 250 kW to 1 MW. He directed officials to complete tender processes for snow-bound areas so that development works could begin as soon as weather conditions improve in March or April.
Sukhu said power shortages in Pangi and Spiti would be addressed soon, with a 1.2 MW solar plant at Dhanwas and a 2 MW plant at Rongtong set to become operational. He also said the state remained committed to opening the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra route via Shipki-La and had taken up the matter with the central government. Efforts were underway, he added, to restore cross-border trade with Tibet.
The Chief Minister said continuous efforts had led to “unprecedented development” in tribal regions, which now recorded higher per capita incomes and stronger social indicators than other parts of the state. He reiterated the government’s commitment to women’s rights and announced a new road project at Nigulsari on NH-5, a landslide-prone bottleneck in Kinnaur district.
Sukhu said the Cabinet had approved the clearing of pending Nautor cases in tribal areas, with the proposal now awaiting the Governor’s assent. Under the Forest Rights Act, 1,039 land titles had been issued as of September 2025. He added that Tribal Bhawan facilities were under construction in Rampur and Nurpur to support residents from Kinnaur and Spiti.
Pangi valley has been declared the state’s first Natural Farming Sub-Division, while the Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh-Samman Nidhi Yojna was launched in Spiti earlier this year to prioritise Scheduled Areas. The Chief Minister also detailed improvements in healthcare and education in tribal districts, including two regional hospitals, six civil hospitals, 46 primary health centres, 73 Ayurvedic dispensaries and 118 veterinary facilities. A total of 3,148 km of motorable roads had been built in these regions, 61% of which were paved.
Tribal Development Minister Jagat Singh Negi said ₹638.73 crore had been allocated for the Tribal Area Development Programme for 2025–26. He noted that delays in constructing Eklavya Model Residential School campuses had been resolved after land transfers, with work progressing in Pangi and Lahaul and formalities under way in Bharmour. Additional residential facilities were being built at the EMRS in Nichar.
Several ministers, MLAs, senior officials and council members attended the meeting, where Sukhu warned that negligence in tribal development would not be tolerated.
