DW BUREAU / Shimla

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.

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 a 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.
(editor@dailyworld.in)