Making this announcement at a big rally of the apple growers at Kotkhai, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said the government has resolved to clear all pending payments within the shortest possible time and amount released today would be for the apple procured after July last. Already, he said, the government had made payments for the last year's apple season, which the previous Congress government had kept pending for months together.

The rally organised by the growers in the apple-bowl of Shimla district, was basically for ``thanks giving'' to the government, which majority of growers feel had made better arrangements for the apple marketing, transportation and packaging despite a bumper crop this time. The growers, in thousand attired in their traditional dresses converged from various parts of the district to participate in the rally. A few elders of the area, including women also came to have glimpse of the Chief Minister. He was given a warm welfare on his arrival to the rally right from Theog upto Kotkhai.

Prominent speakers at the rally were Maheshwar Singh, MP, Horticulture Minister Narender Bragta, Ministerr for Urban Development R.D. Kashyap, vice-chairman HRTC Khushi Ram Balnatah and Chander Sen, MLA and vice-chairman HPMC.

The Chief minister claimed that the government had started a serious exercise to boost fruit production, solve problems of the growers and set up fruit-based industries for ensuring remunerative price for their produce.

Reiterating his government's resolve for equal development of all parts of the state, Dhumal said that steps initiated by the government during the last nine months to benefit every section and areas speak for themselves. He charged the previous Congress government for playing with the sentiments of the apple growers and doing nothing for them.

The Chief Minister said that the government had also started work on construction of Kisan Bhawan at Delhi to facilitate the farmers on which Rs 1.81 crore would be spent of which Rs. 1.05 crore had already been released.