HP staring at financial emergency, claims former CM Jai Ram Thakur

Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur on Sunday said the state was staring at a financial emergency. "The Secretary Finance today said the state is not in a position to give DA, subsidies and arrears, etc, and would need to shut down several institutions. He further said that even after stopping development works, there will be a gap of Rs 7,000 crore between state's expenditure and income. The state wants to know from where this money will come," said Thakur.

He further slammed the state government for exploring a legal recourse against the recommendations of the Finance Commission. "The government should know that the Finance Commission is an independent and constitutional body and there's no justification in going to the Supreme Court against its recommendations," said Thakur, adding that the government failed to plead its case effectively before the Finance Commission.

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On the BJP MLAs missing the meeting in which the presentation on the financial health of the state was presented today, Thakur said the invitation to attend the meeting was extended by the Secretary Finance, not the Chief Minister. "We wouldn't go on the invitation of Secretary Finance. The Chief Minister should have personally given the invitation if he wanted us to attend the meeting," said Thakur.

Taking a dig at the CM, Thakur said that the CM often said that he would make the state fully self-reliant by 2027 and the most prosperous by 2032. "The state, however, is staring at financial emergency today. We would like to know that on what basis the CM made these tall claims," he said.