Centre should be more magnanimous, grant us Special Relief Package: CM
The Tribune Interview: Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Chief Minister
With a mounting debt of almost Rs 1 lakh crore, the Himachal Government wants a Special Relief Package, Green Bonus and total funding for all its infrastructure projects like expansion of railway lines and airports from the Centre. In an exclusive interview with Pratibha Chauhan of The Tribune, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu shares the expectations he and the people of Himachal have from the Union Budget.
What are your expectations from the Union Budget?
We have very few sectors for revenue generation, so Narendra Modi-led BJP regime should be much more magnanimous in budget allocation for all hill and North Eastern states. Facing the brunt of climate change by way of flash floods and cloudbursts, Himachal should get a Special Relief Package for undertaking sustainable development and reconstruction of the damaged infrastructure. We must be compensated for protecting the forests which act as lungs for entire North India by grant of a ‘Green Bonus.’
Key Demands
- Special package to tackle impacts of climate change
- Green Bonus for protecting forests
- 100 per cent funding for all central projects
- Enhancement in loan raising limit of Rs 1,600 crore
- Enhanced free power in hydel projects by central Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs)
What can Centre do to help Himachal improve its financial health as loans are touching Rs 1 lakh crore?
Unfortunately, Himachal is caught in the rigmarole of raising loans to repay the earlier loans, with little sources of revenue generation. We want Centre to do away with the loan raising limit of Rs 1,600 crore imposed on Himachal after we restored old pension scheme. Also, the Rs 9,000 crore lying with the Centre under the New Pension Scheme must be returned.
In our two-year term, we raised Rs 30,000 crore loans, 63 per cent of which went towards repayment of loans and interest raised earlier. We inherited Rs 85,000 crore loan from the previous BJP regime along with pending arrears of Rs 10,000 crore due to employees. So where is the money left for development works?
What are the main areas, where you are hopeful that will be reflected in the Union Budget?
We want Centre to bear the entire cost of the Gaggal airport expansion in Kangra and the laying of all rail lines, including Bhanupali-Bilaspur-Beri and Chandigarh-Baddi rail lines. We are a hill state with limited avenues for revenue generation so we should get special liberal assistance and 100 per cent budget for all central projects.
Are you satisfied with the criteria adopted for fund allocation to states?
Being a state with about 70 lakh population, we are not a consumer state so we get very little share by way of taxes. Since water is our major natural resource, we must be allowed to levy water cess and get enhanced royalty as free power in execution of all hydel power projects by central public sector undertaking.
