‘Cash-strapped’ Himachal Pradesh govt failed to pay salaries to staff, pensioners

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh government, facing a severe financial crisis, failed to disburse wages and salaries to its 391,000 employees and pensioners for August 2024.

The total monthly liability amounts to approximately Rs 2,000 crore, with Rs 1,200 crore allocated for salaries and wages and Rs 800 crore for pensions.

This is reportedly the first time in the state’s history that employees and retired government servants have gone without their due payments.

Nevertheless, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s claims that the state wasn’t facing any financial crisis and owing to some fiscal prudence issues, the government could not pay the salaries on time.

The steps are underway to ensure payment of the wages though the wage Bill of the state, and pensioners continue to pose a huge burden on the finances, he said.

But, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said the state government was heading towards financial bankruptcy despite Rs 2,400 crore loans raised by the Congress government which is a record in itself.

“If the speed of the loans remains the same, the government will end up with a debt of Rs 1 lakh crore by the end of 2025. Yet, the CM says there is no financial emergency and the state would be fully self-reliant by 2027,” he alleged.

In the state Assembly, tempers ran high as the opposition staged a walkout from the House and raised slogans for not being allowed to discuss urgent issues of fiscal crisis.

The Opposition also created ruckus in the House over Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania’s attitude against the Opposition and also use of some “derogatory” remarks against some of its MLAs.

Later in the day, Thakur led the entire BJP legislature party to Rajbhawan to meet Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla and submitted a memorandum highlighting the deadlock-like situation in the House.