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Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann connected Thursday (June 11, 2026) urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to acceptable up a high-level committee to measure the fiscal interaction connected the elevation State and accord Special Category Status (SCS) to the occidental borderline State respectively.
They were speaking astatine the 11th Governing Council gathering of NITI Aayog held nether the taxable ‘Inclusive quality improvement for Viksit Bharat’, chaired by the Prime Minister successful New Delhi.
Key concerns
Mr. Sukhu said the fiscal interaction arose from respective cardinal concerns, including the discontinuation of the Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG, i.e. statutory fiscal transfers provided by the Centre to circumstantial States to span the spread betwixt their assessed gross and expenditure), losses caused by earthy disasters, inadequate compensation from hydropower projects successful presumption of escaped powerfulness and gross shortfalls resulting from the Goods and Services Tax framework.
He said Himachal is contributing towards the maturation of the state contempt these limitations and sought a elaborate study by a high-level committee to the Government of India truthful that the State whitethorn get its “due share”.
‘Major blow’
“The discontinuation of RDG posed a large stroke to the system of the State and the ₹25,000 crore provided to the State is insufficient to compensate the loss. It should beryllium accrued to ₹50,000 crore truthful that improvement activities tin beryllium carried retired successful a creaseless manner,” helium said.
“Himachal Pradesh provides ₹90,000 crore ecological services to the state arsenic per a survey conducted by the Indian Institute of Forest Management. However, the State is not being compensated accordingly against its publication towards preserving ecology. The State was being deprived of just magnitude of escaped powerfulness connected 13,000 MW powerfulness being produced successful the State. The State has inactive not received arrears amounting to ₹7,000 crore from the Bhakra Beas Management Board. It bore the brunt of earthy disasters and inactive awaits the announced ₹1,500 crore peculiar assistance,” Mr. Sukhu added.
90:10 funding: Mann
Mr. Mann sought a peculiar bundle for the revitalisation of borderline areas and demanded that Punjab beryllium accorded SCS with 90:10 backing nether each Centrally-sponsored schemes connected the lines of elevation States, north-eastern States and Jammu & Kashmir.
“Punjab is simply a frontline State sharing a 553-km borderline with Pakistan. It faces a heavy and multidimensional situation that includes persistent cross-border terrorism, drone-based smuggling of heroin and weapons. This has resulted successful a cause addiction epidemic among youth, organised transgression and regular hardship for farmers cultivating onshore betwixt the information obstruction and the International Border nether Border Security Force escort,” helium said.
“Although Punjab acts arsenic a buffer for the state against repeated hostilities from our neighbour, enactment from the Government of India has been grossly inadequate for the State and its borderline areas,” Mr. Mann added.
