Dhumal demands cancellation of Himalayan Ski Village MoU

Shimla, Mar 6 (UNI) Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister P K Dhumal today termed the Budget 2006-07 as anti-people, saying it totally ignored the interests of farmers, unemployed youth and employees.

Initiating the discussion on the Budget, he claimed the state was in a serious economic crises with liabilities increasing with little corresponding revenue to meet the expenditure and a debt running into Rs 23,000 crore.

''The central tax share in the state government revenues during 2004-05 was Rs 2567.51 crore, which increased to Rs 4,027.10 crore during 2005-06 due to 12th Finance Commission and to Rs 4207.34 crore during 2006-07,'' he said.

''The increase in government revenues is due to the increase in central government tax share rather than better management of the taxes.'' The former chief minister said the state government's failure to effectively implement the centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) has witnessed a reduction in the CSS amount provided to the state.

''As against the CSS amount of Rs 215.11 crore provided during 2004-05, the CSS share dropped drastically to Rs 124 crore during 2006-07 which shows on the poor implementation of centrally sponsored schemes,'' he said.

Mr Dhumal said the BJP had opposed the Contributory Pension Fund Scheme, started for the government employees recruited after May 2003, as it was anti employee.

Commenting on the expenditure of the state government, Mr Dhumal said during 2005-06, the daily income of the state government was Rs 15 crore against the expenditure of Rs 20.5 crore, causing a daily debt of Rs 5.50 crore.

He said in the budget estimates for 2006-07, the daily income was estimated at Rs 18 crore against a expenditure of Rs 23.80 crore, causing a debt of Rs 5.80.

Raising the issue of Himalayan Ski Village, Mr Dhumal pointed out that the rating agency Standards and Poor's has rated Ford Bonds as ''Junk''.

Moody's and Fitch gave similar ratings to the Ford bonds, he said, adding that according to Dow Jones, Ford Motor Company has announced 25,000 jobs cuts and closure of 14 factories in North America in a sweeping restructuring move.

Mr Dhumal asked why was the state government interested in a company whose rating in its own country was questionable.

UNI AS PM PC2237