Revenue deficit grant of state falling, intact in Uttarakhand: Panchayati Raj Minister

Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Minister Anirudh Singh has accused the Central Government of discrimination against Himachal Pradesh. He claimed that the revenue deficit grant (RDG) of the state was falling while it wasn’t the case in neighbouring Uttarakhand where the BJP was in power. “The RDG for Himachal is going down. This year, it will be a little over 3,000 crore but there’s no reduction in the grant for Uttarakhand,” the minister added.

Anirudh, while talking about the financial condition of the state at a press conference here, said that the state government had to take a loan to repay the interest and the principal amount of the loans taken in the past. “In the past two years, our government has taken Rs 30,080 crore as loan. Of this amount, Rs 18,054, which is 63 per cent of the total amount, has been spent on the repayment of interest and the principal amount of the past loans,” he added.

He said that the Central Government had even stopped the Rs 1,600 crore grant after the state government restored the old pension scheme (OPS). “It shows the Central Government is working with a sense of revenge against the state,” he alleged.

Asked why would the Central Government discriminate against the state when Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls Himachal his second home, the minister said, “The Prime Minister finds a deep connection with any state that is poll bound. There are elections in Bihar and the Prime Minister is saying that he was born in Bihar. He becomes the citizen and voter of every poll bound state.”