Technical Eduction Minister Rajesh Dharmani today said that BJP leaders were in a habit of spreading false information but repeated lies cannot make a falsehood true. He accused the BJP of distorting the efforts that the present Congress government was making for strengthening the economy of the state, while in reality the state has raised more revenue by ending irregularities than it spends on fulfilling its promises.
He revealed that by closing improper channels over the last year, the present state government has generated an additional Rs. 2200 crore, which was now being used to support schemes for the needy. The Minister also alleged that BJP leaders from Himachal were damaging the s image state by spreading misinformation nationwide and advised them to apologize to the people of the state. He emphasized that Congress has already fulfilled five election promises and is on track to complete the rest in contrast to BJP‘s history of unkept promises.
Dharmani said that in October, the government was able to pay the salaries of government employees twice. The government has issue three instalments of 11 percent dearness allowance increase within two years of taking office. He said that the government has also cleared pension arrears for citizens over 75 years of age despite inheriting Rs. 10,000 crore in pending liabilities from the previous BJP administration. In its very first cabinet meeting the the Congress Government restored the old pension scheme for employees. He said that apart from this daily wages of MNREGA workers has been raised to Rs. 300, setting a minimum wage at Rs. 400, increased the police diet allowances from Rs. 210 to Rs. 1,000 and launched special programmes for widows.
The Minister further criticized the actions of the BJP leaders during last year disaster. When the entire state was under distress the so called BJP leaders were only focused on politics and were least concerned about the plight of the affected people. They were not willing to take-up the state matter with the centre neither were supporting the Congress in relief measures. Whereas the Congress Government released disaster relief package of Rs. 4500 crore from state own resources. The present State Government has also raised compensation for house damage from Rs. 1.30 lakh to Rs. 7 lakh and rehabilitated 23,000 families, despite not receiving any relief package from the Central Government.
He said that despite submitting nearly Rs. 9500 crore in claims per the Post-Disaster needs assessment, the funds were yet to be released and the BJP leaders of Himachal were preventing the disbursement of relief money by continuously misleading the centre government. Technical Education Minister said that the Congress Government was committed to public service and working for the development of state and its people. The present state government has adopted orphans as “Children of the State” and funding the education of children of widows. Apart from this the government was dedicated to create and implement welfare programmes for all sections of the society where as the BJP was engaging only in political deception mere to stay in limelight.
