Sukhu, Jai Ram spar over reducing revenue deficit grant, mounting debt

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur today sparred in the Vidhan Sabha over the issue of reducing revenue deficit grant (RDG), mounting debt and declining capital expenditure adversely impacting development.

During the debate on the Budget proposals for 2025-26, Sukhu said that the reducing RDG and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation coming to an end in June 2022 had compounded the financial woes of Himachal. “The 14th and 15th Finance Commissions had made liberal allocations, and as a result a huge amount up to Rs 40,000 crore was received as RDG for five years,” he added.

“During 2025-26, the RDG will reduce to Rs 3,257 crore, which is bound to impact the size of the Budget and capital expenditure,” he added.

Sukhu said, “The previous BJP government had received Rs 3,200 crore and Rs 1,600 crore as GST compensation. If you were a good Finance Minister, you should have reduced the debt burden rather than spending that money on distributing freebies to win elections.” He added that to make matters worse, the Central Government put a limit on the raising of loan and capped external funding to Rs 2,900 crore after the restoration of the old pension scheme (OPS).

Thakur hit back at Sukhu and said that from day one, the Chief Minister was blaming the previous BJP government for raising loans and the Central Government for not providing any financial assistance. “In1993, there was a negligible debt burden on Himachal but unnecessary loans were raised and since then there has been no looking back. In fact, no government can now function without taking loans,” he added.

Thakur said, “Did your government give us a no dues certificate when we came to power? We accepted your liabilities and did not cry hoarse about loans like you had been doing from day one.”

Will talk to Mann over state buses being stopped in Punjab: CM

• Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Tuesday said he would take up the matter regarding the buses of Himachal being stopped by some people in Punjab. Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur raised the issued in the Assembly
• Sukhu assured the House that he would take up the matter with his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann. “At times, some anti-social elements indulge in such activities. I will request the Punjab Chief Minister to take necessary action,” he added
• Thakur said that some people from other state were moving around in Himachal with flags bearing pictures of Bhindrawale, which was not right. “The news of a Delhi-bound bus from Manali being stopped in Punjab by people brandishing swords and with Bhindrawale’s pictures pasted alongside Sukhu on the bus has gone viral on social media. The Chief Minister should take up the matter with Punjab or else the situation can worsen,” he added
• In the past also, there had been similar incidents where after people in parts of Kullu and Manali objected to the flags bearing Bhindrawale’s pictures carried by tourists from Punjab on their vehicles led to tension and retaliatory action in Punjab