Himachal CM promises to clear arrears of pensioners

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, August 16

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has announced that arrears to all pensioners above the age of 75 years would be disbursed immediately.

Presiding over the 78th state-level Independence Day function at Shaheed Bhuvnesh Dogra Ground in the Dehra subdivision of Kangra district yesterday, the CM said while the arrears to pensioners above the age 75 years would be given immediately, these would be paid in a phased manner to others.

The arrears generally pertain to revised scales implemented with retrospective affect after the implementation of the sixth pay commission.

Sukhu also announced opening of superintending engineer offices for Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Ltd and Jal Shakti Department and block medical officer in Dehra. He said the claims of the Pong dam oustees would be settled under the Forest Rights Act. Ten gram panchayats will be converted into green panchayats by establishing solar power projects with a capacity of up to 500KW each, he added.

The Chief Minister hoisted the national flag and took the salute from the contingents of the state police, Kangra district police, IRB Sakoh, IRB Pandoh, Uttarakhand IRB Armed force, Traffic Police, SSB Sapri, Home Guards, NCC and Bharat Scouts and Guides. The parade was led by Commander Sachin Hiremath, an IPS probationer.

He said a new scheme will be introduced to resolve around 15,000 pre-GST legacy cases, providing relief to those affected.

The CM said the state was facing serious economic challenges due to certain decisions made by the previous BJP government, which added an additional burden of thousands of crores. He said for political gains, electricity and water bills were waived, resulting in an additional burden of Rs 780 crore on the HPSEBL and of Rs 300 crore on the Jal Shakti Department in one year.

He added that after cases of irregularities in the Himcare scheme came to light, it was decided to exclude private hospitals from empanelment under the scheme. The Himcare scheme had not been discontinued, he said. “The benefits of the scheme will continue to be available in all government health institutions. The dialysis services will continue in private hospitals,” he said.

The Chief Minister also honoured various organisations and individuals for their distinguished services. The Civil Services Award was presented to the Department of Digital Technologies and Governance. The Prerna Srot Samman was awarded to Dr Rakesh Kumar, Director General of the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts; Satya Prakash Sharma, founder of the Divya Manv Jyoti Seva Trust; and Mahesh Verma. The Himachal Gaurav Puraskar was conferred upon Kehar Singh Thakur, Prof Keshav Ram Sharma and Poonam Thakur. A Special Award was given to Arunoday Sharma, also known as ‘KBC boy’.

The Chief Minister also honoured family members of freedom fighters and martyrs.

Sukhu launched a weeklong ‘Kardata Samvad Abhiyan’ to provide taxpayers and traders with information on various tax rules. Additionally, the State Taxes and Excise Department is introducing a web portal for grievance redressal, designed to address the concerns of taxpayers and consumers promptly, thereby enhancing the department’s efficiency.

He also distributed laptops to various panchayats to enhance efficiency and digitise their records.