The Himachal Pradesh government's recent decisions to hike the minimum bus fare from ₹5 to ₹10 and propose a fee for parchee (registration slips) in government hospitals have sparked public outrage across the state.
These measures, which the government claims are meant to address logistical and administrative issues, are being widely criticised as burdensome on the poor and working class who rely heavily on public transport and state-run healthcare services.
Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, while announcing the cabinet's decision on the bus fare hike, stated that the move was necessary because most passengers do not carry ₹5 notes or coins, making it difficult for bus conductors to manage transactions.
This explanation, however, has been met with skepticism and ridicule, especially in the context of the ongoing push for digitisation and digital payments across the country.
Similarly, Health and Family Welfare Minister Col. (Retd.) Dhani Ram Shandil defended the proposal to charge a fee for parchees in hospitals by saying that when the slips are provided for free, patients tend to discard them, even when doctors have written diagnoses or prescriptions on them.
He argued that a small charge would encourage people to preserve these documents and would also generate some revenue for improving healthcare services. He clarified that this fee had not yet been implemented but was under consideration.
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Citizens, particularly the youth, have strongly opposed both these ideas, drawing a parallel with the recent hike in salaries of Ministers and MLAs.
They point out the contradiction in the government’s actions—while repeatedly highlighting the state’s financial crisis and blaming past administrations for the mounting debt, the current regime has gone ahead with increasing the pay of elected representatives. This move, they argue, only adds to the resentment as it appears that the financial burden is being shifted onto ordinary citizens.
Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, who himself has faced flak for supporting the salary hike for MLAs, criticized the government’s reasoning, calling it absurd and unacceptable. He demanded a more transparent explanation for imposing additional financial strain on the public. With the state's debt crossing ₹1 lakh crore, political blame games have intensified.
The ruling Congress government attributes the fiscal crisis to the previous BJP government's alleged wasteful expenditure, lack of central financial support, and a reduced borrowing limit. In contrast, the opposition BJP accuses the current administration of financial mismanagement and poor planning, further fueling the controversy surrounding these decisions.
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