HP budget session begins, BJP stages walkout on MLA-LAD funds

| | Shimla
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HP budget session begins, BJP stages walkout on MLA-LAD funds

Wednesday, 15 March 2023 | PNS | Shimla


 
PNS/
 
The first day of Himachal Pradesh Assembly’s budget session witnessed heated exchanges between the treasury and opposition benches, with the BJP staging a walkout demanding release of last installment of the MLA Local Area Development (LAD) fund for which nine legislators of the saffron party had given an adjournment motion.
 
Pandemonium prevailed in the House as the members of BJP and Congress were involved in fiery war of words.
 
Immediately after the obituary references to former state Minister Mansa Ram, BJP’s Vipin Parmar urged the Speaker to admit the adjournment motion to discuss the release of the MLA LAD funds. “The previous government had made a budgetary provision for the fund and three installments amounting to Rs 1.5 crore were released. But the present government has not released the last installment of Rs 50 lakh,'' Parmar said, adding that it was the chief minister's new ''gift'' to the people of the hill state.
 
Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said that it was a matter of prestige for the MLAs and added that the chief minister, who used to talk about the MLAs' rights earlier, has changed his stance now.
 
Recalling that the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh had opened 21 colleges ahead of the 2017 Assembly polls, the former chief minister said the state's loan liability rose from Rs 27,000 crore to Rs 48,000 crore during the Congress regime from 2012 to 2017.
 
Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said 920 institutions were opened by the BJP government at the end of its term, without any budgetary provision or staff. “Colleges were opened in panchayat ghars and there were no children in the schools. Seeing this, we decided to change the system as we have a responsibility towards people…'We have responsibilities and duties towards the public, which the previous BJP government failed to discharge, and we will bring a white paper on the state's financial situation,” he said.
 
He added that the MLA-LAD fund has not been closed but only stopped and a decision regarding releasing the funds would be taken after reviewing the financial position at the end of this quarter. Not satisfied with the Chief Minister's reply, the BJP members staged a walkout.
 
Earlier, Chief Minister Sukhu arrived at Vidhan Sabha in his Alto car.

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