Shimla. On Thursday, the opposition staged a walkout from the House on the guarantee of Rs 1,500 to women. Before the walkout, the opposition, led by the Leader of the Opposition, shouted slogans in the Well and kept demanding permission to allow the Leader of the Opposition to speak in the House. At the time when the opposition was creating ruckus, Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh was replying on the budget in Sukhu Sadan. The Speaker tried to stop the opposition, but the sloganeering continued. After this, the opposition went out of the house talking about not being allowed to speak. Actually, this matter came up when the Chief Minister was talking about giving Rs 1500 pension to two lakh 91 thousand women. The opposition objected to the announcement and Leader of the Opposition Jairam Thakur sought time to speak. After this, an uproar started in the House and the opposition staged a walkout. Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu said that the Congress has not fixed a time limit for fulfilling the guarantee. In the next four years, all the women of the state will be given the benefit of the guarantee. (hdm)
Tag: Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu
-
Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu honored the only woman MLA
The gesture shown by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu in promptly acceding to the request of lone woman MLA Reena Kashyap (BJP) in the Vidhan Sabha is being viewed as a smart move. Though Sukhu exhibits deep sensitivity to all issues related to women and their rights, he scored a major point by stating in the House that since Kashyap is the lone woman MLA, he will restore the Jal Shakti Department division opened for Pajhauta-Rajgarh immediately, as requested by her.
Focus on frugality
Health Minister Col Dhani Ram Shandil (Retd) took a leaf from his service in the Army during an animated debate in the Assembly while tempers ran high between Congress and BJP leaders to drive home the point on being cautious in spending government funds. “During the Indo-China war, when, at times, Army rations were depleting, officers and jawans would have two bananas and a glass of milk for meals and sleep,” he said. He tried to drive home the point that one needs to exercise thrift and not make reckless spending when the state is reeling under severe financial crisis.
Photo op for media
With the Punjab Police chasing Amritpal Singh, some scribes in Himachal were expecting that checking might have begun at Himachal borders too. However, when they reached there, they saw no such activity was going on there. To get some photos, they requested the cops posted there to conduct checking of some vehicle so that they could get photographs. Obviously, the cops obliged.
Fulfilling poll guarantees
With no provision to arrange funds for meeting poll guarantees, the Congress leaders are now finding ways to dilute them. The much-awaited Budget too had little in store as the guarantee of providing Rs 1,500 to every woman was conveniently confined to a few. The guarantee proved to be a mere election ploy to secure votes. One wondered why senior leaders kept reiterating that a guarantee differs from a promise.
-
Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu advocated for ‘Green State’
Despite terming Himachal Pradesh’s financial health “grave”, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday announced no fresh taxes while presenting the Budget of Rs 53,413 crore for 2023-24 fiscal year and outlining the plans to make HP a green state by 2026.
In a desperate bid to generate resources for the cash-strapped state, Sukhu announced that Rs 4,000 crore would be generated from water cess on hydropower generation, Rs 100 crore from Rs 10 as milk cess on every liquor bottle and enhanced revenue from open auction of liquor vends.
Sukhu, who holds the finance portfolio, has tried to give a new direction to make Himachal a “green state” by switching to electric vehicles, creating six green corridors and providing subsidy of 50 per cent for purchase of electric taxis, buses and trucks. An allocation of Rs 1,000 crore has been made for replacing 1,500 diesel buses of state transport corporation with electric vehicles.
Under pressure to implement the 10 Congress guarantees promised before elections, he said the Old Pension Scheme had been approved while Rs 1,500 would be provided monthly to 2.31 lakh women in a phased manner. Thrust has also been laid on the social sector with special schemes for orphans, single women and widows and enhancement of MGNREGA and daily wages.
He announced a total of 13 new schemes in his 66-page Budget speech in Hindi which he read in 2 hours 15 minutes, interlaced with six Urdu couplets. He said 90,000 jobs avenues would be created in government and private sectors.
With a huge debt liability of Rs 75, 000 crore and leaving every citizen of the state under a debt of Rs 92,833, he cautioned that the road ahead was not easy. “I am aware that the situation is far from rosy but then we are committed to bringing about a change in the system, though one cannot expect results overnight,” he stated.
“The estimated fiscal deficit this year is expected to be about Rs 9,900 crore which is 4.61 per cent of the GSDP. The revenue deficit this year is estimated to be Rs 4,704 crore as compared to Rs 6,170 crore in 2022-23,” he revealed.
With the burden of committed liabilities like salary and pension (Rs 42) and loan and interest payment (Rs 20) mounting each year, a mere Rs 29 in every Rs 100 is left for development works.
Burdened with the challenge of ensuring development with empty coffers, Sukhu has laid thrust on adoption of latest technology in health and education sector. Thrust has also been laid on tourism promotion with Kangra to be developed as Tourism Capital to help generate the much- needed employment.