Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on December 11 said despite financial straits, the Congress government has fulfilled three key election promises in its first year of rule and would be implementing at least three more poll guarantees next year, including a pension of ₹1,500 to all women above 18 years of age in a phased manner.
He was addressing a rally ‘Vyavastha Parivartan ka Ek Saal’ at Dharamshala in Kangra district to mark one year of his government.
“From January 2024 all the women of district Lahaul-Spiti who are over 18 years of age would be given ₹1,500 per month. The promise of providing monthly ₹1,500 made to all the women of the State would also be met in a phased manner. Not only this, the State government will bear the expenses for higher education of children of widows from the next fiscal,” he said.
Mr. Sukhu also announced the government will start the ‘cow dung’ purchase scheme in January 2024, which he said would prove to be a milestone in the direction of prosperity of the farmers.
Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), Mr. Sukhu said the previous BJP government took a huge loan of ₹14,000 crore in its last year of power intending to win the elections. “The consequences of huge debt were passed on to us. Despite the financial crisis crunch and the monsoon disaster we have fulfilled three major promises in the first year of the government itself. Without considering any political gain, in the very first cabinet meeting, the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) was implemented so that the life after retirement of the employees could be secured. Along with this, the e-taxi scheme has been started under the first phase of the Rajiv Gandhi Self-Employment Start-up Scheme of ₹680 crore. English medium will be introduced in all government institutions from the next session,” he said.
The Chief Minister also accused the BJP of playing petty politics surrounding the natural disaster faced by the hill State following heavy rains. “The government brought a resolution in the Assembly to declare the disaster in Himachal as a ‘national disaster’, but the BJP did not support the State government’s resolution. No special package has been received from the Central government yet. Despite this, with its limited resources, the State government announced a special package of ₹4,500 crore, so that the affected people can get relief by claiming adequate assistance,” he said.
“We are focused on changing the system and have laid the strong foundation for making Himachal self-reliant by 2027. The government’s revenue has increased by ₹500 crore from the auction of liquor contracts,” he added.
