Grant row: Himachal govt blaming Centre for its fiscal mismanagement, says Jai Ram

Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur on Monday accused the state government of attempting to shift blame to the Centre for its own fiscal mismanagement in the wake of the 16th Finance Commission’s recommendation to discontinue the Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) to Himachal Pradesh.

Participating in a debate on a resolution moved under Rule 102 in the Vidhan Sabha to discuss the economic crisis arising from the scrapping of RDG, Thakur said the government was indulging in “political gimmickry” instead of engaging in serious and constructive deliberations. He maintained that the Chief Minister could not dictate terms to the Opposition on how to address the emerging financial challenges.

“There is a need to take bold and harsh decisions rather than seek political mileage from the situation. We want the state to come out of this crisis, but we cannot be compelled to function according to the government’s whims,” he said.

Thakur traced the state’s debt trajectory, stating that Himachal was virtually debt-free until 1993. He said by 2012-13, the loan burden stood at Rs 14,000 crore, but during the Congress regime from 2013 to 2017, it rose sharply to Rs 47,900 crore, an increase of 67 per cent. In comparison, he claimed that during the BJP’s tenure, debt increased by Rs 69,600 crore at a rate of 44 per cent.

While acknowledging that the state was facing a severe economic crisis, the LoP criticised what he termed as the government’s “extravagant spending” over the past three years. He also pointed out that RDG had been discontinued for 17 states and not just Himachal. Referring to Karnataka, he said the Congress government there had opposed RDG earlier, questioning why the Centre was being singled out now. He further blamed the Congress for burdening the state exchequer with its pre-election “10 guarantees”.

Theog MLA Kuldeep Rathore, also speaking in the debate, said the RDG issue should not be politicised. He highlighted the financial strain caused by the 2023 and 2025 monsoon disasters and argued that Himachal’s limited revenue avenues made it incomparable to larger states like Karnataka. Naina Devi MLA Randhir Sharma also took part in the discussion.