Focus on infra, education as Himachal Budget session begins tomorrow

Shimla, March 9 (IANS) Ahead of the onset of the 16-day Himachal Pradesh Budget session, with the laying of the Budget on March 17, Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania on Sunday called an all-party meeting to seek cooperation in the proceedings of the House. 
 

Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur and Chief Whip Sukhram Chaudhary participated in the meeting on behalf of the BJP. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshvardhan Chauhan and Deputy Chief Whip Kewal Singh Pathania attended the meeting on behalf of the Congress Legislature Party.

The session is likely to be stormy as the main Opposition BJP is aiming to corner the Congress government over issues like the grim financial health of the state, besides political row over the government seeking contributions from temple trusts to fund the flagship welfare schemes.

Speaker Pathania told the media that there would be no question hour on March 10 after the Governor’s Address and the presentation of the budget on March 17. A total of 963 questions will be asked during the session. A total of 737 will be starred questions and 226 will be unstarred questions. Nine notices under rule 62, five under rule 101, and 10 under rule 130 have been received and forwarded to the government for further action, said the Speaker.

On March 17 at 2 pm, the Chief Minister will present the Budget estimates for 2025-2026. This will be the Congress government’s third budget. The BJP has accused the government of keeping the Budget session short with fewer sittings. Other issues likely to be raised in the Assembly include delays in the payment of salaries and pensions and the closure of institutions. The treasury bench can slam the BJP-led Central government of discriminating against the state.

The Chief Minister has been slamming the Centre for not releasing state’s Rs. 9,042 crore as financial assistance under post-disaster assessment done by the central team after the monsoon in 2023.

In the Assembly session in December last, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu had told the legislative assembly that the state government would approach the Supreme Court, if necessary, to secure the rights of Himachal Pradesh.

Gearing up to put the government on the mat, BJP leader and former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said the Congress had promised to create five lakh jobs but its government has decided not to fill 1.50 lakh posts and removed more than 10,000 outsourced employees from service.

“Even government employees and pensioners were not getting their salaries and pension on time,” Thakur added. Cutting across the party line, the rise in drug addiction and abuse is likely to be raised as the state saw a recent spike in deaths due to drug overdose.

Earlier, an all-party meeting was held on Sunday on the eve of the Budget session of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu promising to unveil a blueprint for improving the hill state’s infrastructure and education sectors.

The all-party meeting called by the Speaker on Sunday decided to extend the session by three days but a final call on the matter is expected to be taken on Monday. The meeting was attended by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshvardhan Chouhan and Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, among others.

A total of 963 questions have been filed by legislators for the session that is likely to end on March 28 – unless extended by three days on the popular demand of legislators.

Hours before the start of the session on Monday, CM Sukhu is likely to chair the Congress legislature party meeting to formulate the floor strategy. In contrast, the BJP legislators met at a private hotel in Shimla on Sunday under the leadership of Jai Ram Thakur.

CM Sukhu’s special focus on the education sector is linked to his repeated criticism of the previous BJP government for ignoring the needs of students.

He has also highlighted his government’s policies due to which the Annual Status of Education Report found the reading level of Himachal children to be the best in the country.

Earlier in the week, PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh voiced the state’s demand that the Centre should provide special financial assistance for projects related to urban infrastructure and digital governance.

Setting the tone for the opposition BJP’s strategy for the session, state unit chief Rajeev Bindal hit out at the Sukhu government for using funds of temple trusts, acquired by the state government in the past, for budgetary schemes.

He said in a statement that the spirit “behind this acquisition is clear that the offerings of the temples should be used in the development of temples, maintenance, facilities for the pilgrims and the development of the pilgrimage sites”.