Mandi/Shimla, Dec 11 (PTI) Amid criticism from the opposition on accumulating debt, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday said he was compelled to take loans to pay installments of existing loans amounting Rs 75,000 crore.
Speaking at the Jan Sankalp rally in Mandi to mark the completion of three years of his government, Sukhu said financial debt, the 2023 monsoon disaster and the political crisis triggered by cross-voting in Rajya Sabha elections by Congress leaders were the top three challenges since he became chief minister.
“The Congress government was compelled to take loan to repay the installments of already existing loans as there was a loan liability of Rs 75,000 crore when he took charge.” State BJP leaders have criticised the Sukhu government for its “mismanagement” of public money and its role in the state’s debt. They have also slammed the “lavish” celebrations held to mark the completion of three years of the government.
At the rally in Mandi, a group held placards under the banner of ‘Unemployed Nurses Association’ seeking nursing jobs. But they were removed before Sukhu arrived at the venue.
The programme was organised Mandi district, which was badly hit by the monsoon disaster, to present reports of government initiatives in the past three years and spell out the vision for the next two years.
The Congress lost nine out of ten seats in Mandi district, the home district of Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, in the 2022 assembly polls.
Sukhu claimed that his government has fulfilled a majority of the ten guarantees announced by the Congress ahead of the assembly polls.
He listed the Old Pension Scheme, initiatives on milk and cow dung procurement and English medium education in government schools as some of the achievements in the last three years.
The chief minister alleged that the central government withheld Rs 1,600 crore of funds after the Congress government restored OPS in the state.
Sukhu recalled that on his first day as CM, he announced government support for 6,000 children, which included Rs 3 lakh for house construction, Rs 1 lakh for tuition and Rs 4,000 monthly pocket money, besides funds for higher education.
Reacting to LoP Jai Ram Thakur’s remark that after the next state polls, the Congress MLAs would fit into a small “Alto car”, Sukhu said the Congress would come back in a 52-seater Volvo bus.
He took a dig at the previous BJP government for alleged corruption and irregularities in its transactions with private companies, including waive offs and “customised packages” for big industrialists.
The BJP which is giving moral lessons are themselves mired in corruption, Sukhu said.
During the previous BJP government, liquor vends were renewed for four years and the state treasury received Rs 450 crores and on the other hand Congress got Rs 450 crore in one year by auctioning the liquor vends, he claimed.
Congress in-charge for Himachal Pradesh Rajni Patil praised the government for its drive against drugs and becoming self-reliant and asserted that Congress would definitely return to power in 2027.
“We are fighting the fight to safeguard the interests of the state and have not forgotten our guarantees and will fulfill them,” said Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri. He also spoke on eradicating ‘chitta’ — adulterated heroin — abuse in the state.
Targeting the central government, Agnihotri said that funds worth Rs 1,200 crore of Jal Jeevan Mission have been withheld, which is affecting the pace of development projects.
Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh and his mother former state Congress chief Pratibha Singh were not present at the rally.
The CM launched MyDeed portal, the Naksha scheme, digital Jamabandi module and also distributed benefits to beneficiaries of various flagship schemes of the present state government, a statement issued here said.
He transferred Rs 50.63 lakh directly into the bank accounts of 401 beneficiaries under the Rajiv Gandhi Prakritik Kheti Khushal Kisan Yojana.
A special relief assistance amounting to Rs 5.11 crore was also disbursed to disaster-affected families of Chamba, Hamirpur, Kangra, Lahaul-Spiti, Sirmaur, Solan and Una districts.
He handed over symbolic keys of e-taxis to 25 beneficiaries under the Rajiv Gandhi Swarozgar start-up scheme and air tickets and visas to 21 youths selected for overseas employment.
The CM also distributed e-vouchers to meritorious students under the Srinivasa Ramanujan Students Digital Scheme to purchase laptops, tablets and smartphones.
A total of 8,450 toppers from Class 10 and 12, along-with 900 final-year undergraduate students have received benefits under the scheme, the statement added. PTI COR BPL SKY SKY
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