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The Congress’ electoral campaign in Himachal Pradesh had three big promises to pull voters in its favour. The party rode on 10 guarantees, promising to switch back to the old pension system (OPS) from the new pension system (NPS), free power up to 300 units per month and Rs 1,500 every month to a woman between 18 and 60 years of age.
The campaign against BJP government’s anti-incumbency calibrated well with these freebies, ensuring a decisive victory for the party as the Congress won 40 seats in the 68-member assembly.
The party formed the government, elevating its state organisation chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu as Himachal’s 15th chief minister on December 11, 2022. The cabinet meeting of the government on January 13, 2023, gave it in-principal approval to the OPS switching scheme. The March 3 cabinet meeting set April 1 as the OPS restart date. The move — which is expected to help 1.36 lakh state government employees — is likely to cost Rs 1,000 crore to the state exchequer in 2023-24 and is expected to go up further in the years ahead.
Interestingly, it was a Congress government in the state under Virbhadra Singh that had switched to the NPS in 2003-04.
However, six months into the government, these freebies seem to have started giving the state government financial problems in implementation.
Though the state government has denied the BJP’s allegation that the May salary of 15,000 employees of the state units was delayed due to financial crunch, saying the salary has been released, the attitude of the state government on two other big promises — free power units and Rs 1,500 to women per month — tells a different story.
Sukhu took over the reins of the state with his claims of having a debt burden of Rs 75,000 crore, Rs 4,430 crore as arrears of salaries and Rs 5,226 crore payments due for the pensioners. The total liability on the state was Rs 91,000 crore. The state’s finances are in overdraft of Rs 1,000 crore and the government is taking loans of Rs 800 crore for it.
This puts a big question mark on the fulfilment of Congress promises in a time-bound manner as promised. Both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra had assured the locals that the party’s 10 promises would be fulfilled if voted to power. Rahul Gandhi, in fact, reiterated his statement after his party got an absolute victory in the state, putting a deadline this time — “I assure you again, every promise made to the public will be fulfilled at the earliest.”
That deadline has been extended to four years in the words of the chief minister who said the 10 guarantees were for five years and the state government would fulfil them over the next four years.
The previous BJP government was already giving 125 power units free to the consumers every month. Over 16 lakh consumers were getting subsidised electricity bills. The current Congress government has continued with it but has failed so far to give an additional 175 free power units it promised. According to Sukhu, the annual cost burden of continued 125 free power units is expected to be Rs 1,044 crore in the current financial year.
The deadline for an additional free 175 power units has been extended by three years. The chief minister has stated that it will take the Himachal Pradesh government three years to generate 2,000 MW of electricity and the electoral promise can only be fulfilled after it. Power generating units in Himachal Pradesh generate 12,000 MW of electricity currently, but the state government has just a nominal share in it.
The state government is not in a financial position, it seems, to waive off power bills of additional free 175 units by paying accumulated cost of 300 power units to all eligible consumers to the distribution network. Also, the cost of electricity in the state increased per unit by 22 paise in April.
According to the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited (HPSEBL), the state has 22.60 lakh domestic electricity connections. The addition of an extra 175 free units means an extra financial burden on the electricity board. For 2023-24, the board has put a net annual revenue requirement of Rs 7,550.91 crore, Rs 1,820.89 crore more than last year’s figure.
Another big freebie was Rs 1,500 to every eligible woman in the state. According to social justice and empowerment minister Dhani Ram Shandil, the total number of women in the 18-60 age group was 22.40 lakh, with many women getting other pensions. About 10.53 lakh women were found to be eligible. The freebie is expected to cost Rs 1,900 crore a year. It was decided that the scheme would be launched in phases with 2.31 lakh beneficiaries included in the first phase. So far, just 9,000 women of the Spiti Valley in Lahaul and Spiti district are getting the dole.
Demographically, Himachal Pradesh’s total population was 68.65 lakh individuals according to Census 2011, with 34.81 lakh males and 33.82 lakh females. According to the Department of Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs, by March 31, 2022, the population in the state had increased to 74.26 lakh. As per the department’s data, the state had a total of 19.48 lakh families, with 2.76 lakh families having below poverty line.
Though switching back to the OPS helped 1.36 lakh state employees and their families, it seems the Congress has failed to implement other big freebies because of its financial problems.
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