For the first time in the history of Himachal Pradesh, 2 lakh employees and 1.5 lakh pensioners of the state did not get salaries and pensions on September 1 due to the ongoing financial crisis. Just days ago, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had announced that his Cabinet ministers would not take their salaries for the next two months.
Himachal currently has a huge debt of about Rs 94,000 crore. This financial burden along with freebies has weakened the financial condition of the state to a great extent, due to which the state government has to take new loans to repay the debt. The state government has liabilities of about Rs 10,000 crore and employees are unlikely to get salary and pension even today, AajTak reported on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters, Heera Lal Verma, Joint Secretary of the Joint Association of Himachal Pradesh Government Employees, said that the government employees are getting affected financially the most. “We keep waiting for our salaries until the end of the month. If there is a financial crisis, the government should see the loophole and resolve that issue. When the yearly budget is formed, pension, salary, medical everything is included. Is the government diverting this money?”
प्रदेश में आर्थिक आपात जैसे हालात हैं, आज 3 तारीख़ हो गई हैं लेकिन कर्मचारियों के खाते में वेतन नहीं आया।
— Jairam Thakur (@jairamthakurbjp) September 3, 2024
पेंशनर पेंशन की राह देख रहे हैं, जनहित के मुद्दे न मुख्यमंत्री सुन रहे हैं और न ही विधानसभा अध्यक्ष महोदय ही सुनने को तैयार है।
मुख्यमंत्री महोदय पहले जो व्यवस्था थी वही… pic.twitter.com/TY1j0xnfH5
Verma said that stopping the salary is not a mature thing and that the government should probe the leakage and see where is this crisis coming from.
While the BJP blames the Congress government for the current crisis, Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu claims that this situation was due to the mishandling of the state economy by the previous government. Speaking to reporters, Sukhu said the previous BJP government gave free power and water to even those who did not deserve it.
Former Chief Minister Jairam Thakur today said that there is a situation of “economic emergency” in the state. “Today is the 3rd but the salary has not been credited to the employees’ accounts. Pensioners are waiting for their pension,” Thakur said in a tweet. “Sir, let the system remain as it was earlier because then people used to get their salary, pension, treatment, government facilities, medical bills, DA, and arrears on time. The state does not accept this change in the system.”
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