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It would take one to two years to bring the troubled economy back on track, says CM
The CM said the former BJP government implemented the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission but did not make any provision in the budget for it
Chief minister (CM) Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, during the Question Hour in the House on Saturday, said that more than ₹10,000 crore has to be paid to employees and pensioners as arrears. He added that employees and pensioners of Himachal Pradesh government will have to wait for one to two years for the arrears to be received as per the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.
He said it would take one to two years to bring the troubled economy back on track while blaming the previous government for the fiscal mess.
The CM said the former BJP government implemented the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission but did not make any provision in the budget for it.
Earlier, in response to the original question of MLA Rajendra Rana, the CM said the matter of giving revised pension as per the Sixth Pay Commission to the pensioner employees of municipal corporations, municipal councils and nagar panchayats is under consideration of the government. He said the government restored the old pension as soon as it came to power and till now more than 500 pensioners have started getting the old pension.
Responding to a question from Congress MLA Sanjay Rattan, the CM said the government has made efforts from time to time to fill the backlog of 2% of the posts reserved for dependents of freedom fighters in government departments, but the selection commission had failed to do so.
Candidates with suitable qualifications have not been found. Due to this, till now there is a backlog of 536 posts of different categories in various departments. He said the government will study the removal of reservations from the backlog and take a decision on it.
Responding to a question by BJP member Randhir Sharma, the CM said that during the tenure of the present government, an amount of more than ₹4.30 crore has been spent till November 30 on repairs on the apartments of the CM and ministers. He said that this amount also includes liabilities of ₹2.50 crore from the previous government. He added that these are routine expenses, and also include the repair of the residence of the leader of the Opposition and the residences of the MLAs.
On the question of independent MLA Hoshiyar Singh, the CM said in the Dehra assembly constituency, 1,261 works are pending under MLA Fund, SDRF, SDP, and MP Fund, Chief Minister Gram Sadak Yojana. He said that the government has given instructions to expeditiously dispose of such pending cases in various assembly constituencies, but these cannot be time-bound. These works involve various approvals, estimates, gift deeds, and other formalities, which take a lot of time to complete.
