Shoghi (Himachal Pradesh), Aug 3 (IANS): The Himachal government has given top priority to education with a budget allocation of Rs.5,077 crore in this fiscal, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said here on Monday.

He said the Himachal government was ensuring qualitative improvement in education besides expansion of educational infrastructure. As a result of the progressive policies of the successive Congress governments in the state, the literacy rate in the state rose to 83 percent from 32 percent in 1971.

The chief minister was in Shoghi town, some 15 km from the state capital, to lay the foundation stone for expansion of a government senior secondary school. The project will be completed at an outlay of about Rs.14.63 crore, a government statement said.

On this occasion, Singh said the state was fast emerging as one of the developed states in the country.

He said numerous educational and health institutions had been opened during the last two-and-a-half years.

Singh said his priority was to open a school even in those remote areas where the student strength was quite low.