Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu said that his government will soon bring a white paper on the financial condition of the state.
He said this while responding to the discussion on the joint resolution brought under Rule 130 by MLAs Rajendra Rana, Rajesh Dharmani, Suresh Kumar, Kewal Singh Pathania and Chandra Shekhar to make the state’s economy strong, self-reliant and to stop extravagance and debt.
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The Chief Minister said: “Today every citizen of the state has a debt of Rs 92,833. The state’s financial condition is such that the government had to stop the last installment of the MLA’s Area Development Fund.”
He said that had the state government decided to run the institutions opened by the former BJP government during the election year, it would have taken another four years to open them completely and the government would have left with no money to pay salaries to the employees and officers after one month.
“The 6th Pay Commission’s dues of state employees and officers currently pending are more than Rs 10,000 crore. Apart from this, the government has not yet been able to give three installments of DA,” he said.
In the times to come it is going to be even more difficult for the state financially, because in the year 2025-26, total revenue deficit grant to be received from the Centre will come down to Rs.3,000 crore.
“We have less resources of income, but still we can live up to the expectations of the people by making proper use of the resources,” he said, adding that the current budget of the state government has been presented keeping in mind the environment, climate, social security of Himachal and the Centre has no part in it.
Earlier, while presenting the resolution, MLA Rajendra Rana expressed concern over the poor economic condition of the state and suggested strict steps to improve it. MLAs Chandra Shekhar, Randhir Sharma and Bhavani Singh Pathania also gave their suggestions in the discussion.