Himachal Pradesh chief minister, Virbhadra Singh on Monday expressed concern over the pattern of funding by NITI Aayog and held that the…
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh (PHOTO: Facebook)
Himachal Pradesh chief minister, Virbhadra Singh on Monday expressed concern over the pattern of funding by NITI Aayog and held that the state used to receive Central assistance in the ratio 90:10 and was getting the status of special category hill state before the formation of the Aayog.
‘But as of now after the formation of the Aayog, funds to the state have been reduced drastically in Centrally-sponsored schemes and the special industrial package was withdrawn,” he said.
The CM was addressing a public meeting at Lambloo in Hamirpur.
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He said the state had received more than Rs 2,767 Crore before winding up of the Planning Commission during the UPA’s regime, but the assistance had been discontinued after NDA government came to power at the Centre.
Singh said that India was a Union of states and without states, we cannot imagine India as a whole. “Only the Union Territories were under the direct control of the Central government and were governed by the Centre whereas, the states were autonomous,” he said.
He said the responsibility of Union government was to provide funds equal to the states for development. He said that the hill states should have a separate provision of funds because of their topography, he said, adding that the NITI Aayog had ignored all such provisions.
He added that the state did not receive any amount from the head of General Central Assistance during the year 2015-16 and 2016-17.
Besides, financial constraint from the Central government, HP was a leading state in many sectors.
“It was the best big state in the field of education in the country. The per capita income for the state was 1,47,277 as of now,” CM said.
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