Palampur ex-MLA urges CM Sukhu to approach PM over grant cut

Former Palampur MLA Praveen Kumar Sharma has urged Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to draw inspiration from the historic ‘Adhikar Yatra’, led by former CM Shanta Kumar in the 1990s, if the issue of Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) cuts was detrimental to the state’s interests.

Addressing mediapersons, Praveen recalled how Shanta Kumar mobilised party office-bearers, elected panchayat representatives and members of civil society, and took the issue of the state’s rights directly to New Delhi.

Praveen said the entire state had witnessed the historic movement, which sought to secure the financial and developmental rights of the hill state.

Praveen said if the current state government believed the RDG cut was a matter of legitimate entitlement, it should launch a similar public mobilisation campaign.