The present State Government has released more than Rs. 82 crore as the first installment in various schemes to accelerate the developmental works in the State. The allocated funds include Rs. 34.29 crore under MLA Local Area Development Fund, Rs. 12.37 crore under Vikas Mein Jan Sahyog Program, Rs. 2.20 crore under Mukhyamantri Gram Path Yojna and Rs. 26.19 crore under Sectoral Decentralized Planning for 10 districts of the State. Additionally, the tribal areas of Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti, Pangi, and Bharmour have been given Rs. 5.62 crore under MLA Development Fund and Rs. 2.07 crore under Vikas Mein Jan Sahyog Program.
The State Government releases funds in four quarters under these schemes for development activities, which are spent in consultation with the local MLA of the assembly segment. Chief Minister, Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, has announced an increase in the MLA Local Area Development Fund to Rs. 2.10 crore in the budget 2023-24 and the first installment has been released accordingly. The legislators’ discretionary grants have also been increased to Rs. 13 lakh in the budget and the State Government will issue new guidelines for MLA priority schemes based on suggestions received from the MLAs.
The Chief Minister said “Despite the previous government having left an empty treasury, the present State Government is taking appropriate measures to improve the state’s economic health and adequate funds are being provisioned to speed up development in the State in order to facilitate the people. With the right decisions and cooperation from the people, Himachal Pradesh could become a leading State in the country within the next ten years. The Government has set a target of spending Rs. 10 thousand crore in the current financial year for the development of the State, which will inject money into the State’s economy.”
