Old pension scheme, 1 lakh jobs, Rs 1,500 grant for women at 1st Cabinet meet: Himachal CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu

On his first day in office on Monday, Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu chose to send across the message that his would be a government of the ‘aam aadmi’ (common man). Making the hill state pollution-free and fulfilling the 10 Congress ‘guarantees’ would be his top priorities, he tells Pratibha Chauhan in an interview. Excerpts:

What will be the focus areas of your government?

First and foremost, we will provide better services to the common citizens and all bottlenecks in this regard will be removed. It will, for sure, be the government of the common man, by the common man and for the common man. I wish to make Himachal pollution-free and to begin with, all government vehicles running on fossil fuels will be replaced with electric ones in a phased manner. Charging stations will be set up at different points.

All decisions taken by the BJP regime since April 1 this year will be reviewed. All the notifications issued for the creation and upgrade of various institutions have been de-notified. The depts concerned can put these up for fresh consideration, if needed.

What about the election promises?

Three of the 10 Congress guarantees will be fulfilled in the very first Cabinet meeting. These include restoring the old pension scheme (OPS) for government employees, Rs 1,500 monthly allowance to women aged 18 to 60 years and filling one lakh vacant posts. Officials have been asked to work out the modalities. As promised, the three guarantees will be fulfilled within 10 days of the formation of the government, whether or not the Cabinet is constituted by then.

Will you review the BJP government’s decisions?

The decisions taken by the Jai Ram Cabinet since April 1, 2022, will be reviewed. All notifications issued for the creation or upgrade of institutions have been de-notified. Various departments can put these up for fresh consideration, if required. All extensions or re-employment accorded by the previous regime have been terminated. A committee of five MLAs will look into the irregularities in the appointment of outsourced employees.

How will you handle the dwindling finances and raise resources?

We will cut down on all wasteful expenditure and as an example of self-disciple, the MLAs at the Congress Legislature Party meeting today decided to surrender their privileges such as subsidised stay at government rest houses. Besides, all MLAs have been asked to prepare a blueprint of development works in their segments so that scheme-based budgets are prepared and there is no mindless allocation of funds.

There is an impression that the Congress is a divided house

This is a non-issue. There is perfect coordination between party organisation and the government. The public has given us the mandate and they have high expectations of us. We will devote all our energies towards fulfilling the promises we made during the campaigning for the Assembly poll.