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BJP, Congress blame each other for fiscal condition of Himachal
Himachal chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, while replying to the discussion on the general budget presented in the assembly on March 4, flayed the opposition Congress for calling it a bundle of lies
Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday witnessed heated exchange between treasury and Opposition benches as they tried to outshoot each other over financial management. Dissatisfied with chief minister Jai Ram Thakur’s reply on the budget, the Congress again staged a walkout.
The chief minister, while replying to the discussion on the general budget presented in the assembly on March 4, flayed the Opposition for calling it a “bundle of lies”. “Almost all new schemes announced by our government in the last four years have been launched on the ground and their benefits are directly reaching all sections of the society,” he said.
Jai Ram Thakur-led state government will take an additional loan of ₹2,000 crore during the current financial year ending on March 31. He announced to recruit 200 doctors and 100 pharmacists in the department of Ayush. The chief minister also announced that in future, MLAs would be able to make provision for tunnel construction in their segments.
The CM said his government made every effort to establish financial discipline in the state and every year took loans less than the limit fixed by the central government. “On the contrary, under the Congress regime, the limit of taking loans was exhausted,” he added.
Jai Ram said his government has taken ₹5,384 crore less than the authorised limit of loan despite the global calamity like the Covid epidemic. He said at present, the state is under a debt of ₹62,200 crore.
The chief minister said there was a provision of plan outlay of ₹24,200 crore in the year 2016-17 in the Congress government, whereas the plan outlay has increased to ₹40,229 crore in his government. He also dismissed the apprehensions of the Opposition regarding the state’s growth rate and said that Himachal’s growth rate of 8.3% is based on truth and facts.
Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri time and again interrupted the chief ministers’ speech and accused him of financial mismanagement. There were sharp exchanges between Jai Ram and Agnihotri, while the BJP and the Congress legislators engaged in sloganeering. The Congress demanded a white paper on the fiscal health of the state.
Dalhousie legislator Asha Kumari hit out at the government for putting the state under a “huge debt trap” of ₹70,000 crore.
Congress’ Inder Dutt Lakhanpal described the budget as directionless. He said that there was no mention of employment generation in the budget.
Meanwhile, BJP member Ramesh Dhawala heaped praises on the chief minister, saying that the budget was pro-poor. He said Jai Ram kept all the sections of society in mind.
BJP member Arun Kumar said that development has taken place in every area of Himachal in the last four years and every employee and section have been listened to.
Congress member Rohit Thakur said the construction of tunnels was necessary for all-weather connectivity, but there was no mention of it in the budget.
He said the health budget has also been cut. “Horticulture and agriculture sectors have been neglected in this budget. In 2022, there was a talk of doubling the income of farmers. The income has not doubled, but the prices of fertilisers have definitely doubled,” he said, adding that the grant for horticulture and agriculture sectors has been drastically cut.
