Centre must explain why only Rs. 49 crore released against claims worth Rs. 155 crore
2 min readShimla June 14
MLAs Ashish Butail and Bhawani Singh Pathania, while addressing a press conference in Dharamshala today, said there was a glaring disconnect between the claims repeatedly made by senior BJP leaders and Union Ministers regarding financial support to Himachal Pradesh and the reality on the ground.
They said that the people of Himachal Pradesh have every right to know why there is such a significant gap between the financial assistance announced by the Centre and the funds actually received by the state.
Referring to recent statements made by Union Health Minister and former BJP National President Jagat Prakash Nadda, as well as former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, MLA’s said that several claims regarding the state’s finances and Centre-State relations require serious scrutiny and factual clarification.
The Centre has repeatedly claimed that under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, special category states such as Himachal Pradesh receive funding on a 90:10 basis, with 90 percent borne by the Central Government and only 10 percent by the State. However, the facts tell a very different story. During 2025-26, health claims amounting to nearly Rs. 155 crore were incurred, yet the Centre released only Rs. 49 crore. If the Centre were genuinely meeting its 90 percent commitment, the state would not be forced to shoulder such a substantial financial burden from its already limited resources.
They further said out that between 2018-19 and 2025-26, treatment claims under the scheme amounted to approximately Rs. 599 crore, while the Centre’s contribution stood at only around Rs. 310 crore. Consequently, the state government was compelled to bear an additional burden of nearly Rs. 247 crore. These figures expose a serious mismatch between the Centre’s rhetoric and its actual financial support.
They also raised a critical question for former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur. If he was aware as early as 2019-20 that Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) support would eventually be discontinued, why did he fail to prepare the people, government departments and employees of Himachal Pradesh for this eventuality? Why was no long-term financial strategy put in place? If such information was indeed available, withholding it from the public and the incoming government would amount to a serious dereliction of responsibility. Conversely, if no such information existed, then the BJP’s current claim that the Congress Government was fully aware of the impending withdrawal of RDG is entirely baseless and politically motivated.
