E-Paper
Jai Ram terms Himachal budget hollow, misleading
Leader of Opposition in Himachal legislative assembly and former chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said the budget speech did not match with the budget figures at all and the government was trying to mislead the people
Leader of Opposition in Himachal legislative assembly and former chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday said that the Sukhu government was “running short of breath to fulfil the guarantees it promised to the people before the elections”.
“In the present scenario, the state government will not be able to fulfil the guarantees,” Jai Ram said while terming the budget hollow.
He said the budget speech did not match with the budget figures at all and the government was trying to mislead the people. He said the Opposition will fiercely oppose the government’s efforts to mislead the people and its “anti-people” decisions.
Jai Ram claimed that the state government had left out all welfare schemes started during the previous BJP regime in the budget. He said that out of every ₹100 in the budget, only ₹29 was alloted for development. “In such a situation, the scope for development in the state has reduced a lot, which is a matter of concern. The government has not spared even the MLAs and weakened them by suspending their constituency development funds,” he added.
He alleged that the government has cheated the women of the state by announcing monthly allowance of ₹1,500 to 2.31 lakh of them. “This allowance will be given to those women, who are already getting ₹1,000 and ₹1,150 as social security pension. According to the Congress manifesto, all women in the age group of 18 to 60 years should have got this allowance and their number is about 21 lakh, for which the government would need at least ₹3,600 crore,” he added.
