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Dharamshala: State going through serious financial crisis, says CM Sukhu
Sukhu was responding to a query raised by Leader of Opposition (LoP) Jai Ram Thakur regarding the pending MLA Area Development Fund during the Zero Hour.
Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, on the fourth day of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly’s winter session on Monday, said that the hill state is going through a serious financial crisis.
Sukhu was responding to a query raised by Leader of Opposition (LoP) Jai Ram Thakur regarding the pending MLA Area Development Fund during the Zero Hour. The opposition BJP legislators had earlier on November 27 held a protest against the state government for not releasing the MLA area development fund.
Speaking in the House, Sukhu said, “The MLA funds are the right of MLAs. And it is also true that the state is going through a serious financial crisis. After two installments, we are facing issues in releasing the third installment. I accept that MLAs have been facing difficulties for some time now. This is happening because of the decline in our Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) in recent years. It has come down to ₹3,200 crore from ₹11,000 crore earlier, which is a gap of around ₹8,000 crore.”
He also said that he recently met the Union finance minister and will meet her again in January. “We presented our financial numbers and facts. The financial situation remains critical, and we might have to wait until January for the MLA Area Development Funds,” he said.
Earlier, raising the issue, Jai Ram Thakur said that the MLA Area Development Fund is the only means available to an MLA for carrying out development work in his constituency. “Although two instalments have been released, the actual amount is still not being disbursed. We have given sanctions and letters have also been issued, but people are still waiting for the money. This has raised questions about the MLAs. We had earlier held a protest on November 27 in the Assembly premises. Many areas in the state have suffered losses due to disasters, and if we receive the MLA Area Development Funds, we will be able to provide assistance for reconstruction measures.”
Later, in his statement regarding the liabilities of employees and pensioners, CM Sukhu told the house, “When our government came to power, the previous government left a liability of over ten thousand crore rupees in salary and pension arrears. We have taken several economic decisions to strengthen the state financially. The benefits of these decisions will be visible gradually. As revenues improve, liabilities such as arrears for employees and pensioners will be met on priority,” he said.
He further told the house that based on the recommendations of the 16th Finance Commission, all financial liabilities of employees/pensioners will be settled in a phased manner for the next five years from the financial year 2025-2026, subject to financial assistance from the central government.
“Our government has extended the old pension benefit to employees, enabling approximately 1.17 lakh employees to join the old pension system. Recently, we extended the pension benefit to Class IV employees by substituting five years of daily service for one year of qualifying service for pension calculation,” Sukhu added.
