Budget hollow, misleading, says Himachal LoP Jai Ram Thakur

Tribune News Service

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, March 20

Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur today said that the Budget for 2023-24 presented by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was hollow and aimed at misleading people on the financial position of the state.

Thakur, while initiating a debate on the Budget proposals in the Vidhan Sabha, alleged that the Congress government had failed to fulfil the 10 guarantees that the party had given to the electorate before the Assembly elections. “The Congress government is finding it difficult to honour even two guarantees, so imagine its condition when it decides to fulfil eight more guarantees,” he said.

He accused the government of deceiving people on the issue of the grant of Rs 1,500 per month to women between 18 and 60 years of age. “The government will require Rs 3,600 crore to provided Rs 1,500 per month to 21 lakh eligible women. However, it has diluted the guarantee by announcing that Rs 1,500 per month will be provided to 2.31 lakh women, who are already getting pension,” he said.

Thakur said that the figures mentioned in the Budget speech did not tally with the actual figures in it. “The government has attempted to mislead the people of the state on the Budget but the BJP will not allow it to do so,” he added.

He said that it was unfortunate that welfare schemes launched by the previous BJP government were not mentioned in the Budget. “What development can we expect from the government when a mere Rs 29 in every Rs 100 is left for various development works,” he added.

Thakur said that the government decision to close down institutions opened by the previous BJP regime was unfortunate and had led to a lot of resentment among people. Thakur alleged that the institutions opened by the BJP government were closed down as part of a political vendetta.

The former Chief Minister said, “The government is misleading people on the issue of raising loans. It will raise around Rs 10,000 crore which will be far higher than what we took during our tenure.” He criticised the Congress government for failing to express gratitude towards the Central Government as Himachal would receive Rs 18,130 crore under various Centrally-sponsored schemes.

Sujanpur MLA Rajinder Rana, Fatehpur MLA Bhawani Pathania, Chopal MLA Balbir Verma and Gagret MLA Chaitanya Sharma also participated in the debate.

Govt will need Rs 3,600 crore

The government will require Rs 3,600 crore to provide Rs 1,500 per month to 21 lakh eligible women in the state. Jai Ram Thakur, leader of opposition

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