Strong foundation laid for self-reliant Himachal through systematic change: Chief Minister

SHIMLA 16 September, 2024

Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the state government was laying the foundation of self-reliant Himachal through the initiatives under ‘Vyavastha Parivartan’. He said that the government had undertaken numerous initiatives to bring fiscal reforms to improve the financial health of the State and ensure well being of the common man.
The Chief Minister said this while he was participating in a programme of a national news channel, virtually from Shimla today. He said that Rs.23,000 crore of state’s share was currently pending with the Union Government and of this amount, Rs. 9,300 crore pertains to the Post Disaster Need Assessment of last year. Apart from this, Rs. 9,300 crore of New Pension Scheme was stuck with the Central Government and Rs. 4,500 crore of BBMB arrears had also not been given to Himachal Pradesh.
Sh. Sukhu stated that the Union Government had already released Rs. 8,000 crore as disaster relief to the government of Uttrakhand, but Himachal was still waiting for over a year for its share of relief amount. He added that in case of BBMB’s pending arrears, the Apex Court had awarded the judgement in favour of Himachal, but the central government was yet to abide by the judgment and release Rs. 4,500 cror. He stated: “If the Union Government releases the rightful share of Rs. 23,000 to the State, Himachal will take a big leap in moving closer to achieving the target of become a self-sufficient state by 2027.”
He said that the BJP leadership of Himachal Pradesh misled Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the financial health of the State. He clarified that under the present state government, the treasuries had never gone into overdraft, a fact verifiable by the RBI and Union Finance Ministry. He added that all states are equal to the Prime Minister.
The Chief Minister said that the Congress Government reinstated the Old Pension Scheme to ensure the welfare of over 1.36 lakh government employees and providing Rs. 1,500 per month to the eligible women of the State. The government was revolutionalizing the education system by establishing Rajiv Gandhi Day Boarding Schools in all the Assembly constituencies in a phased manner. These initiatives were testament to the financial strength of the State. Moreover, Himachal Pradesh was the first State in the country to offer a Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs. 40 and Rs. 30 per kilogram for naturally grown wheat and maize, respectively. He added that the State Government had also hiked the MSP for milk procurement from Rs. 47 to Rs. 55 per litre for the buffalo milk and from Rs. 32 to Rs. 45 per litre for cow milk.
The Chief Minister said that as far as salaries and pensions were concerned, the employees and pensioners of various boards and corporations continue to receive their salaries and pensions on the first day of the month. The State Government had taken steps to rectify the cash flow mismatch in order to ensure financial discipline. As a result, it had been decided to release the salaries of the employees of various government departments on the 5th day of every month. “This decision is part of the fiscal prudence measures and will save Rs. 3 crore per month in form interest of the loan,” remarked the Chief Minister, adding that the salaries of government employees have not been stalled.
Sh. Sukhu said that the government had appointed only 14 chairmen and vice-chairmen in boards and corporations in comparison to 56 such appointments during the previous BJP government led by Jairam Thakur. He said that the people of the State had given a clear mandate to the Congress to lead the State and the present state government was committed to work with honesty and transparency to maximize the benefits of its policies and programmes to the people of the State.
He said that the BJP attempted to destabilize the Congress government through “Operation Lotus” which had been rejected by the people and the number of Congress MLAs had again reached to 40. “It is evident that the people of Himachal Pradesh have rejected horse trading politics. Our government is dedicated to making Himachal Pradesh a self-reliant State by year-2027 and one of the most prosperous states of the country by the year-2032,” he stated.