•Government to pay Dearness Allowance in due course : CM
Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said the state government would not bow before anyone in its fight to safeguard the rights and interests of Himachal Pradesh. Addressing a public meeting at Sarahan in Sirmaur district today on the concluding ceremony of the Vaman Dwadashi Fair, he said the recent agreement on the Kishau Multipurpose Project was a historic achievement of state government. He said consensus on the Kishau project had remained elusive for several years. The previous BJP government had agreed to bear the cost of the power project, whereas the present state government had maintained that the states requiring the water should bear the cost of the project. It was not justified to ask Himachal Pradesh to shoulder this expenditure, he said.
Sh. Sukhu said that, with the blessings and support of the people, the agreement would save approximately Rs. 3,000 crore from the state exchequer, which would otherwise have been spent on the power project. He added that once the project becomes operational, Himachal Pradesh is expected to receive annual revenue of around Rs. 1,200-1,500 crore. He also said that positive indications were emerging regarding the pending payment of BBMB arrears to Himachal Pradesh. He expressed hope that an agreement favourable to Himachal would soon be reached in the Supreme Court regarding the payment of these arrears.
Referring to the Wildflower Hall case, the Chief Minister said the state had won the legal battle in the Supreme Court after 23 years. He said the verdict had resulted in Rs. 401 crore being credited to the state exchequer and that the hotel was generating approximately Rs. 2 crore per month in revenue for the State.
Sh. Sukhu said that the Centre had discontinued Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) support that Himachal Pradesh was entitled to, result in a loss of approximately Rs. 8,000-10,000 crore to the state. Despite the financial constraints, he said, the state government was ensuring timely payment of salaries and pensions to its employees and pensioners and was also clearing outstanding arrears. He said the entire arrears of Class-III pensioners had been cleared and assured government employees that the state would pay the remaining instalments of Dearness Allowance (DA) in due course.
He said the state government had restored the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) in its very first Cabinet meeting and that more employees would be brought under the scheme in the future. He said that if the BJP returned to power in the state, it would discontinue OPS to the employees.
Emphasising the importance of strengthening the rural economy, the Chief Minister said the government was working towards increasing the monthly income of people living in rural areas to Rs. 25,000-30,000. He said several measures had been taken to promote the rural economy, including a historic increase in milk procurement prices and the provision of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for products produced through natural farming. Ginger has also been brought under the support-price mechanism, he added.
Sh. Sukhu said the State Government was opening CBSE schools to provide quality education in rural areas. He said education in private CBSE schools could cost around Rs. 1 lakh, whereas similar facilities in government schools would be made available at a much lower cost. ‘I come from an ordinary family and, therefore, understand the difficulties being faced by the common people,’ he said.
He said that there were irregularities in the disposal of land during the previous BJP government and alleged that more than 5,000 bighas of land in the Baddi-Barotiwala area had been allotted at highly concessional rates to benefit favoured industrialists.
Referring to the State’s response to the recent natural disaster, Sh Sukhu said the government had increased financial assistance for completely damaged houses from Rs. 1.5 lakh to Rs. 8.5 lakh from its own resources. He further said that the Prime Minister had announced assistance of Rs. 1,500 crore for Himachal Pradesh, but the State had not received any amount against the announcement so far.
The Chief Minister said that by taking measures to curb corruption, the state government had so far saved approximately Rs. 3,000 crore of public money. He said these resources were being utilised for welfare schemes for orphaned children, widows and vulnerable sections.
On the occasion, the Chief Minister distributed financial assistance cheques to beneficiaries of the Mukhyamantri Sukh-Aashray Yojana and released the souvenir.
Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, the state government was working towards making Himachal Pradesh self-reliant. He congratulated the people of the area on projects worth about Rs. 300 crore. He said the government had faced both a natural disaster and what he described as a political crisis, alleging that the BJP had attempted to destabilise an elected government.
Sh. Chauhan said the Congress government was fulfilling its guarantees and that development activities would be accelerated during the remaining one-and-a-quarter years of its term. He assured that there would be no let-up in development works in Sirmaur.
Former Minister Gangu Ram Musafir said the people were aware of the circumstances in which the Congress government came to power around three-and-a-half years ago. He said the state had inherited a debt burden of approximately Rs. 75,000 crore and employee’s liabilities of around Rs. 10,000 crore. He said that the present government had fulfilled its guarantees and restored the Old Pension Scheme for employees. Describing Chief Minister as a leader with grassroots connection, He said that Sh. Sukhu understood the concerns of ordinary people and government had taken several initiatives to strengthen the rural economy.
Congress leader Dayal Pyari said there was no shortage of development works in Pachhad area during the regime of the present state government and thanked the Chief Minister for various projects undertaken in the constituency. She said Pachhad area had received the highest number of teachers during the recent TGT recruitment and asserted that the constituency was not lagging behind in development. She also said Himachal Pradesh was a land of deities and expressed confidence that the people of Pachhad would continue to support the Chief Minister.
MLAs Vinod Sultanpuri, Ajay Solanki and Sudarshan Bablu, Sirmaur District Congress Committee President Anand Parmar, DC Priyanka Verma, SP Nishant Negi and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.
