Shimla, Aug 29 (IANS) Setting a trend, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday informed the Assembly that the Cabinet, comprising chief parliamentary secretaries and chairmen and vice-chairmen of boards and corporations, would forgo salary and allowances for two months to tide over the grave financial crunch.
In a statement in the House, CM Sukhu said: “I urge all the members of the Assembly to voluntarily take a similar decision.”
“Efforts are being made to increase revenue and reduce wasteful expenditure, though results will take time to become visible,” he said.
Expressing concern over the financial condition, the Chief Minister said the revenue deficit grant for 2023-24 was Rs 8,058 crore, which has been reduced by Rs 1,800 crore to Rs 6,258 crore this fiscal.
“In 2025-26, the revenue deficit grant will be reduced by another Rs 3,000 crore to Rs 3,257 crore, which will make it even tougher for us to meet our needs,” he stated.
Expressing concern over the “delay” in getting central funds for last year’s natural calamity that claimed more than 700 lives and massively damaged public and private property, the Chief Minister said the state “is still awaiting Rs 9,042 crore grant under the Post Disaster Need Assessment from the Centre for the damages suffered to bridges and other infrastructure during the monsoon of 2023”.
On facing financial challenges after reverting to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for all government employees, covered under the defined contributory pension scheme or National Pension System (NPS), CM Sukhu said, “Despite repeated pleas, the Centre has also not provided Rs 9,200 crore lying with it as part of the new pension scheme deduction.”
“We have also stopped getting GST compensation from the Centre which has reduced our revenue by almost Rs 2,500-Rs 3,000 crore annually,” he explained.
CM Sukhu, who also holds the finance portfolio, said after the restoration of the old pension scheme (OPS), the loan borrowing limit has been reduced by Rs 2,000 crore.
Officials told IANS the hill state, whose economy largely banks on tourism, horticulture and hydropower, has accumulated a whopping debt of Rs 75,000 crore when it assumed office in December 2022 with the ever-swelling wages and liability of about Rs 11,000 crore on account of arrears of salaries of employees and pensioners and dearness allowance from the previous government.
–IANS
vg/svn
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.