Himachal CM meets Finance Commission head, seeks assistance

New Delhi, July 15 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu on Tuesday met the 16th Finance Commission Chairperson Arvind Panagariya here and sought cooperation for strengthening the financial condition of the state.

CM Sukhu said Himachal Pradesh has been following the path of fiscal prudence and is one of the best performing states in the country on various parameters, including Sustainable Development Goals.

The Chief Minister urged the commission to support the state in its recommendations keeping in view its financial condition.

He said hill states incur a much higher expenditure as compared to other states and added that devolution to a hill state should be at least twice than their share of the population.

He requested for continuation of Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) keeping in view topographical disadvantages and limited scope for raising revenue.

CM Sukhu added that the state is facing a financial crisis because of steep tapering of RDG by the 15th Finance Commission.

The Chief Minister also requested for the creation of a separate ‘green fund’ with earmark annual allocation for hill states.

He said this issue was discussed with the Prime Minister also.

He also apprised the Chairperson about the suggestions made by the state for disaster management, relief from debt trap, grant to local bodies and state specific grants.

He urged for accepting the suggestions as recommended.

Chairperson Panagariya assured of all possible assistance to the state.

A day earlier, CM Sukhu called on Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and apprised her of the financial situation and urged for increasing the borrowing limit of Himachal Pradesh.

He informed about the massive losses incurred due to recent heavy rains and flash-floods in the state and urged the Centre to provide assistance to the state.

In another meeting, CM Sukhu called on Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Naidu and urged him to operate Delhi-Shimla-Dharamsala and Dharamsala-Shimla-Delhi flights on a daily basis.

At present, these flights are operational only three days a week, causing inconvenience to the tourists, he said.

CM Sukhu also requested the commencement of night landing facilities at the Dharamsala airport.

--IANS

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