Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur sparred in the Assembly on the final day of the monsoon session over the ₹1,500-crore disaster assistance and protests by employees and pensioners.
Jairam Thakur questioned the government over the pending demands of employees and pensioners and asked why they were holding protests across the state if the government was employee-friendly. He also questioned the use of disaster funds for salaries and pensions and raised the issue of protests by Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board employees.
Responding to the Opposition leader, Sukhu said employees and pensioners have the right to protest in a democracy. He said the government should clear whatever dues remain pending and praised them for “awakening the government” about their concerns.
The chief minister also criticised the previous BJP government for implementing the Sixth Pay Commission shortly before the elections and said only ₹50,000 was provided at the time. He claimed that the previous government received around ₹47,000 crore under the Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) over five years, while the present government had received around ₹17,000 crore.
Sukhu said that had the current government received funds at the same level, it could have paid around ₹10,000 crore towards employees’ arrears as well as ₹10,000 crore towards the state’s debt of ₹76,560 crore.
On the ₹1,500-crore assistance announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Himachal Pradesh, Sukhu said the state had not sought the amount during the visit. He said a meeting was held at Gaggal airport where the issue was discussed, but no announcement was made at the time.
He said the Prime Minister later announced ₹1,500 crore for Himachal Pradesh through social media. Sukhu clarified that the amount was linked to compensation under the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) and would be used for infrastructure once received.
The chief minister said the government had already spent money from its own budget on disaster-related needs and maintained that relief work could not wait for funds from Delhi.
Jairam Thakur, meanwhile, questioned why pending liabilities had not been cleared when the state had received RDG for the previous three years. He also asked how disaster funds could be used for salaries and pensions.
Sukhu said his government does not engage in politics with elections in mind and works with public welfare as its priority. He said the government had completed three years, eight months and 23 days in office and assured that improvements would be made across the state.
