Himachal Pradesh Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla on Monday, in his address to the legislative Assembly on the first day of the 16-day Budget session, said being Himalayan region the state is highly vulnerable to climate change.
“The Government is taking proactive measures to strengthen environmental resilience and mitigate future disasters,” he said in his one and a half hours speech in Hindi.
“The state has been selected under a bilateral project of the Ministry of Environment, Forest for Climate Change in collaboration with Climate Adaptation and Finance in Rural India.
“Between 2023 and 2026, approximately Rs 91 crore is being invested to develop adaptive capacity for 5,000 women farmers in drought-prone and climate-sensitive areas of the state.”
The Governor said currently, 15,580 sq km (28 per cent) of the state has been designated as actual forest area. “To further enhance forest cover, the government has undertaken plantation drives under CAMPA and centrally-sponsored schemes, out of the 8,000 hectare plantation target for the current financial year, afforestation has been completed on 6,715 hectares and remaining target expected to be achieved by the end of this fiscal.
On the economy front, the Governor said the state doesn’t have adequate resources. Hence, the dependence on Central grants is high.
“Following the implementation of the GST, the state’s reliance on central assistance has further increased since many state-imposed taxes have now been merged into GST. This transition has led to significant financial losses, which were initially compensated through a GST compensation for five years. However, this grant stopped in July 2022, exacerbating the state’s financial strain. Additionally, the inadequate Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) recommended by the 15th Finance Commission has further contributed to the adverse fiscal situation.
“In its interim report for 2020-21, the 15th Finance Commission recommended an RDG of Rs 11,431 crore. But, this grant has been decreasing steadily since 2022-23.
“In the current financial year, Rs 6,258 crore has been recommended, and by the final year of the 15th Finance Commission, it will be reduced to Rs 3,257 crore.”’
Governor Shukla said capital expenditure was Rs 5,309 crore in 2020-21, Rs 6,029 crore in 2021-22 and Rs 5,630 crore in 2023-24.
“In the current financial year, the budget estimate stands at Rs 6,270 crore, demonstrating that the government has not allowed the capital expenditure to decrease despite tapering RDG and development works are progressing rapidly,” the Governor added.
