E-Paper
Himachal: Centre hindering state’s development, alleges Congress
Himachal industries minister Harshwardhan Chauhan says “conspiracies are being hatched deliberately to stop the development of Himachal Pradesh, in which the big leaders of the state BJP are playing a key role”.
The Congress has once again acussed Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government of meting out stepmotherly treatment to Himachal Pradesh. “The Centre has not only denied the status of a special state but also snatched away the rights of Himachal. Conspiracies are being hatched deliberately to stop the development of Himachal Pradesh, in which the big leaders of the state BJP are playing a key role,” alleged industries minister Harshwardhan Chauhan in a statement issued on Wednesday.
The statement comes a day after Himachal Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla dismissed concerns about insufficient central funding. He had said that the state received substantial financial support from the Centre. “If misunderstandings arise, they should be resolved through dialogue rather than mere allegations,” he had said.
Targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Chauhan said, “Senior party leaders regularly visit Delhi, meet the central leadership there and God knows what all conspires are there due to which the files related to state’s development keep gathering dust in the central government offices.”
Chauhan said, “Despite the massive scale of the disaster, loss of life and property across the state in 2023, the central government did not provide any help to the people of the state for relief and rehabilitation works. The central team itself undertook a post disaster need assessment (PDNA) and gave an estimate of ₹9,042 crore to the state due to the disaster. But the Centre has disregarded the interests of Himachal Pradesh to such an extent that even after more than two years, not even a single rupee has been provided to the state”.
He said that in its last budget, the Centre gave direct financial help to the disaster-affected states governed by the BJP, while the term ‘multilateral development assistant’ was used for Himachal Pradesh.
Joining him, technical education minister Rajesh Dharmani said the central government is continuously discriminating against Himachal Pradesh. “Ministers of the state government have repeatedly met the ministers of the central government and put forth the issues concerning the state, but the people of Himachal Pradesh got nothing except assurances”.
He said, “In the first cabinet meeting, the state government restored the old pension scheme for 1.36 lakh NPS employees of the state. Unhappy with the decision, the central leadership of BJP on the advice of its state unit leaders imposed several financial restrictions on Himachal Pradesh. After implementing the old pension scheme, the Centre made a huge cut in the loan limit of Himachal in order to pressurise our government to roll back OPS”.
“ ₹9,000 crore of the state under NPS is lying with the Centre and our government has repeatedly requested the Centre to return our rightful share,” said Dharmani.
