Himachal Pradesh Budget Session: Cong walks out during CM’s reply to Gov’s address

Himachal Pradesh is currently facing a debt burden of Rs 63,200 crore, he added.

Thakur said that the state’s debt burden was about Rs 48,000 crore till the 2017-18 financial year. He said the previous Congress government had taken a loan of Rs 28,707 crore from 2012-13 to 2017-18 during its five-year tenure, while his government has taken Rs 15,200 crore in loan from 2018-19 to till date.

Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri intervened saying CM must stick to one figure. Agnihotri said while presenting his first budget, Thakur had said that the previous Congress government in its five-year tenure had taken loans worth Rs 18,787 crore, a figure that was Rs 10,000 crore less than the one quoted by the BJP leader in House Wednesday. Agnihotri said lies were being told in the Assembly. There was an uproar following which the Congress members and the lone CPIM MLA Rakesh Singha staged a walkout from the House.

Thakur, meanwhile, said that by terming the Governor’s address as a bundle of lies, the Congress has lowered the dignity of the post of the Governor. He dared the Congress leaders to state one initiative that they had taken for welfare of people when they were in power.

He said that his government, on the other hand, has initiated several schemes including reducing the age for old-age pension from 80 to 70 years.

Over 20,000 stray cattle have been given shelter by opening new gau sadans and cow sanctuaries in the state as compared to just 6,000 during the previous Congress government, he added. Himachal is the only state where a gas connection has been provided to every household, he said.

Thakur said a total of 83,478 grievances were addressed at people’s doorsteps during 242 Jan Manch programmes and 2,131 people have set up their own businesses under the Mukhyamantri Swabhavlamban Yojna by investing Rs 100 crore. Further as many as 18,218 people have been helped under the Mukhyamantri Sahara Yojna, he added.

Thakur said that he buried the vendetta politics and in the last four years, there was not a single case against any political leader on political consideration.

Under the CM Himcare Scheme 2.27 lakh people have been treated free of cost. He said the state had only 52 ventilators before the Covid pandemic. Now state has 1,014 ventilators.

The chief minister said the state government decided to confiscate the property of those involved in illegal mining.

108 people from Himachal evacuated from Ukraine: CM

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur Wednesday informed the Assembly that 108 people from Himachal Pradesh have been evacuated from war-torn Ukraine.

Thakur said no student from Himachal is in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, however, some are still stuck in Kharkiv. The CM said he had interacted with some of the students stranded in Ukraine and also their parents through video call, and asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was making all possible efforts for their evacuation.

Participating in the discussion earlier, Congress legislator Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu alleged that the Centre failed to evacuate Indian students from Ukraine on time. He said 10-11 students from Himachal Pradesh are still stuck in Kharkiv.