The Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur urged the Finance Commission for fair assessment of the component of revenue receipts and expenditure by keeping in view the topographical conditions and also recognise cost and climate disadvantages of the State. He was addressing the meeting held here today with the 15th Finance Commission.The Chief Minister said that the topography of the State was difficult and construction and maintenance cost of capital assets like roads, health and educational institutions, irrigation and water supply schemes and electrification was very high. He said that requirement of public institutions in the hills was higher as compared to plains. He said that all India average was one health Sub Centre for four villages covering 5624 population whereas in the State one Health Sub Centre is for ten villages covering population of only 2987. He said that about 87 percent farmers were small and marginal and only 20.5 percent net area of the State was irrigated as compared to the national average of 46 percent. He said that the average yield per unit area was much less than the national average.Jai Ram Thakur said that the State of Himachal Pradesh was a revenue deficit State and it has to depend on loans to fund development works. He said that although the State Government has been prudent in its borrowings and cash flow management has helped its debt to GSDP ratio, which has declined from 63 percent in 2007-08 to 35 percent in 2016-17. He said that due to this the State Government was left with little resources for investment in social and economic sectors after repaying debt.
The Chief Minister said that the share of Central Taxes was inadequate to wipe out the pre devolution deficit of our revenue deficit state. He urged the Commission to recommend adequate grants so that not only the Post Devolution Revenue Deficit was neutralised, but also leaves the State with adequate Revenue surplus to fund a part of the Capital Expenditure on infrastructure development.He said that the State was trying its best to augment its revenues. He said that annual revenue from VAT were Rs. 727 crore in 2005-6, which significantly grew to Rs. 4382 crore in 2016-17. He said that the Government had expected tax buoyancy with the introduction of GST. He said that in the past 14 months the revenue shortfall in GST revenues compared to the estimated revenues has been about 40 percent. He said that the revenue protection architecture was available only for the first 27 months for the award period of the 15th Finance Commission. He urged the Commission to look into the matter so that the State could augment its revenue in a better manner.
Jai Ram Thakur said that the State has a forest wealth of over 1.50 lakh crore and scientific silviculture practices and ecological viable forest logging could potentially yield revenue of Rs. 4000 crore each year for the State. He said that since the exploitation of forest as source of revenue has been proscribed by national laws, which has deprived the State for huge revenue due to non-exploitation of forest wealth. He urged the Finance Commission for providing justified compensation to the State for this loss of revenue.The Chief Minister said that the State had received about R.s 3000 crore from the erstwhile Planning Commission in the year 2014-15. He urged the 15th Finance Commission for giving due consideration to this loss which the State had to incur as a result of abolition of the erstwhile Planning Commission. He said that special provisions should be made for special category state like Himachal Pradesh.Jai Ram Thakur said that the State was prone to various hydro-meteorological hazards like flood, flash flood, cloudbursts, droughts, forest fire, cold waves, Avalanche etc. He said that the State has suffered losses worth Rs. 1217 crore in monetary terms during the monsoon this year, till 17th September. He thus urged the Commission for allocating Rs. 800 crore each year under SDRF for meeting out this difficult challenge.The Chief Minister said that the 14th Finance Commission had recommended that all the grants recommended to the rural local bodies should be passed on only to the Gram Panchayats, which has caused resentment among the Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad members, who were also elected representatives. He urged the Commission to consider some recommended grants to the Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samitis also as these two tiers of the Panchayati Raj Institutions also have elected representatives who can plan and implement suitable schemes at local levels.Jai Ram Thakur said that the State has immense power potential of about 27000 MW, which comes to about one fourth of the hydro potential of the country and out of this the State has harnessed 10500 MW. He said that Independent Power Producers were now reluctant to execute power projects due to low rate capacity utilisation of existing power plants and decline in sale rates of power. He urged the Commission to use its good office to have hydro power declared as renewable energy without any capacity ceiling and imposition of reasonable purchase obligations, for hydro power as in case of solar power.
The Chief Minister said that the State has immense tourism potential, which has immense potential of revenue and employment generation. He said that the State was not failing to fully exploit this potential due to its limited resources. He said that the rail works in the State increase by merely 57 kms after independence and there was no airport in the State where a large air craft could land. He thus requested the Commission to enhance rail network in the State besides providing airport for the State where big aeroplane could land. He said that the PMGSY had proved to be a boom to the people of the State as maximum roads have been constructed under this Scheme. He said that biggest problem here was the maintenance of these roads. He said that similarly huge funds were required for maintenance of other infrastructures such as power, water and irrigation facilities.He also urged the Commission for assisting the state in tackling the monkey menace in the State. He said that this has forced the farmers to stop cultivation of crops, which has adversely affected the economy of the State. He said that the State was not getting its legitimate share for some of the major projects such as Pong Dam, Shanan Project and BBMB projects constructed on the land of Himachal Pradesh. He urged the Commission for helping to redress these issues with the Centre and stakeholder states.While detailing the achievements of the present State Government, Jai Ram Thakur said that the State has become second state in the country after Sikkim to be declared Open Defecation Free. He said that recently the State has been felicitated for Good Governance at National Level. He said that the forest cover in the State has increased by 2.67 percent between 2015-17. He said that the Jan Manch programme launched by the State Government has proved an effective tool for appreciation of issues and grievances at grass root level and for their quick redressal.Chief Minister said that the economy of the State was characterised by its rural nature with employment opportunity almost negligible, thus the youth of the State looks toward Government for employment. He said that the State Government has started several schemes for increasing employment and provide new livelihood opportunities.
Schemes such as Mukhyamantri Yuva Ajivika Yojana, Deen Dayal Upadhayaya Gramin Kaushal Vikas Yojana and the Skill Development Allowance Schemes, etc. were some schemes in this direction, he added.Chairman 15th Finance Commission N.K Singh assured that the Commission would sympathetically consider various issues raised by the State Government while allocating funds for the State.Other members of the Commission also participated in the discussions.Chief Secretary Vineet Chawdhry welcomed the Chairman and other members of the 15th Finance Commission. He said that the State has made tremendous progress during all these years from being an underdeveloped State to become one of the front runner State of the country.Additional Chief Secretary Finance Anil Kumar Khachi gave a presentation of overview on Himachal Pradesh.Secretary Finance Akshay Sood presented vote of thanks.Irrigation and Public Health Minister Mahender Singh, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Kishan Kapoor, Education Minister Suresh Bhardwaj, MPP and Power Minister Anil Sharma, Urban Development Minister Sarveen Chaudhary, Health Minister Vipin Singh Parmar, Rural Development Minister Virender Kanwar, Industries Minister Bikram Singh, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dr. Rajiv Saizal, Member of the 15th Finance Commission Shaktikanta Das, Dr. Anoop Singh, Dr. Ashok Lahiri and Dr. Ramesh Chand, Secretary of the Commission Arvind Mehta, Additional Chief Secretary Home B.K. Agarwal, Additional Chief Secretary cum Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Dr. Shrikant Baldi, Addition Chief Secretary Revenue and PWD Manisha Nanda, Additional Chief Secretary Tourism Ram Subhag Singh, Additional Chief Secretary Forest Tarun Kapoor, Principal Secretaries, Secretaries and other senior officers of the State Government were also present on the occasion.