BJP blames Cong govt for financial crisis in Himachal Pradesh

Shimla, Sep 9 (PTI) Leader of Opposition in Himachal Pradesh Assembly Jai Ram Thakur on Monday launched a frontal attack on the Congress government, holding it responsible for the financial crisis in the state and asserting that the responsibility of tiding over the crisis was on the ruling dispensation.

Participating in the debate on the financial position of the state under Rule 130, the BJP leader said that the situation was so grave that only 28 per cent budget was available for development against 39.56 per cent in 2017-18. He said 40 per cent of the budget was being spent on salaries and pension which was only 27 per cent in 2017-18.

The former chief minister said that the debt burden was Rs 48,000 crore when the BJP assumed power in 2017 and it raised a loan worth Rs 19,600 crore during the five years.

The loan limit of Rs 6000 crore was remaining but the present government is "going to set a record by breaching the Rs one lakh crore loan mark," he said.

Thakur said that the contribution of employees under the National Pension Scheme (NPS) was of employees and the state government has no claim on it.

Accusing the government of incurring wasteful expenditure, Thakur alleged that the government spent Rs 6 crore in defending the appointment of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPS) and hiked the salary of the chairperson of a Board from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1.30 lakh.

The government has hiked the prices of cement by Rs 100 per bag during the past 20 months, he said and asked the chief minister to clarify how the state would become self-reliant by 2027.

Initiating the discussion, Bhawani Singh Pathania (Congress) said that the announcement of freebies during elections was over and now it is time for qualitative improvement in services.

Vipin Singh Parmar (BJP) said that the government debt has mounted to Rs 94,000 crore during the past 18 months and the per capita debt of the state has risen to Rs 1.17 lakh.

He alleged that the government was going to mortgage the gold and silver of temples to meet the financial crisis but Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri categorically stated that the government would do no such thing and accused the opposition of vitiating the atmosphere.

Agnihotri also said that there was no plan to abolish concessions to women in HRTC buses.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan blamed the previous BJP government for the state's financial woes. PTI BPL RT