Centre biased against state, allege ministers

Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan and Technical Education Minister Rajesh Dharmani today accused the Central Government of continuously discriminating against Himachal Pradesh.

In a joint statement issued here, they alleged that state ministers had met Union ministers and taken up various issues with them “but the people of Himachal Pradesh had got nothing except hollow assurances”.

They alleged, “The state government in its first Cabinet meeting had restored the old pension scheme for 1.36 lakh employees covered under the new pension scheme. Unhappy with the decision, the Central Government on the advice of its state unit leaders imposed several financial restrictions on the Himachal.” They added that instead of returning the new pension scheme (NPS) deposits, the Central Government was continuously sending letters to the state to bring the employees back under the purview of the NPS or the unified pension scheme (UPS).

They claimed that the Centre was yet to provide Rs 9,042 crore post disaster need assessment grant to the state due to the devastation suffered during the monsoon in 2023. They added that in the case of Himachal’s share of Rs 4,500 crore of arrears with the BBMB, the apex court had given the judgment in favour of Himachal Pradesh but the Central Government was yet to abide by it.

“State BJP leaders are also stalling the grant of funds and schemes to Himachal, which is very unfortunate,” they alleged.