The Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister, Jai Ram Thakur said that it was the first time that current and former employees have not received salaries, or pensions even on the third day of the month, adding that the CM can't blame the centre for this,
Leader of Opposition, Jai Ram Thakur today said Himachal Pradesh was almost on the verge of bankruptcy and the Congress government should address this crisis seriously.
Talking to media persons here, Jai Ram Thakur said it was the first time that the state government's current and former employees have not got their salaries, and pensions even on the third day of the month.
“It is strange that the Chief Minister sometimes says that there is a financial crisis and on another, he says there is no crisis. He even says that the Congress government will make Himachal self-dependent by 2027. If the government is not able to give the salaries and pensions, it is the worst financial crisis and it should be dealt with seriously,” the former BJP Chief Minister said.
He said the Congress government used to say it was ‘employee-friendly’. “How employee-friendly are they when they can’t even give salaries and pensions to their own employees?
He said the BJP wanted to discuss the financial condition of the state in the Assembly yesterday through an adjournment motion. The Speaker of the HP Assembly and even the Chief Minister had said that the discussion on the financial state of HP will be shortly taken up in the Assembly.
“We will discuss it with all the details when the issue comes up in the state Assembly,” he said.
Jai Ram Thakur said the state government had been blaming the Central government for not releasing funds. “This is wrong as the Centre has been giving the state its due continuously. The whole country is looking at the model adopted by the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh,” he said.
It is pertinent to mention that the state has a total debt burden of Rs 85000 crore at the moment, and the employees in the state Secretariat had recently taken up cudgels against the state government for its extravagance in repairs of offices, and houses by the ministers and misuse of vehicles by the bureaucrats, while demanding their due arrears and DA. The employees have threatened to resume their protest and work out a strategy to press for their demands after the Vidhan Sabha session ends on September 9. Other employee associations in the state have also taken up the issue with the government for early release of arrears and DA.
The strength of government employees in the state is over 3 lakh.
Follow us
