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Himachal: Protests Erupt Against HP Govt’s Decision to Hike Bus Fare
Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh Government is under fire for giving a shock to the public by approving a hike of 25 percent in bus fare instead of relief amid a financial crisis in wake of the pandemic. Protests have begun in the state against this decision and, in this row, today the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee held a Dharna Pradarshan. The party said that this decision would put an additional burden on the public.
The Communist Party of India (M) has given a call for a state-wide protest on July 23 against this decision of the state government.
“First the government put a financial burden on the public by hiking rates of its various services including water, ration, electricity, diesel and petrol, and property tax, and now it has aggravated this burden by deciding to make a hike in bus fare,”
CPI (M) said in a statement released to media.
CITU also staged a protest in front of the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, and warned the government of more protests if this decision was not withdrawn.
“Since the formation of the new government, bus fare has been hiked upto 50 percent and the minimum fare has witnessed a hike of 200 percent. At the time of the formation of the new government, the fare was Rs. 1.50 per kilometre, which has now been hiked to nearly Rs. 2.25 per kilometre. The minimum fare has been hiked to Rs. 7 from Rs. 5,”
said state chief of CITU Vijender Mehra.
“Despite a drop in the cost of crude oil, the prices of diesel and petrol has been rising in India. If the centre and state governments reduce heavy excise duty and vat respectively, then the government could avert putting a financial burden on the public by hiking bus fare,”
he said.
CITU termed it a nexus between the state government and private bus operators. Bus fare in Himachal is much higher as compared to hilly North-East states, it said.
Further, it said that in a time when nearly 70 percent of people employed in the private sector have lost their jobs partially or completely, the people need relief from the government.
The protest held by Congress in Shimla was led by party chief Kuldeep Singh Rathore from Rajeev Bhawan to the Office of Managing Director HRTC at Old Bus Stand.
“In the last two and half years, the BJP government has increased the bus fare by 50 percent including a hike of 25% in 2018,”
Congress said in a statement to media.
Rathore has asked the Chief Minister to release details regarding total collection in the CM Relief Fund and its utilization. He also asked the Chief Minister to let the public know about the due share of the state in the ‘Rs 20 Lakh Crores’ package announced by the Prime Minister as a relief.
The state government has failed in providing alternate jobs/honorarium to the unemployed youth which has resulted in unrest amongst the youth of the state, the party said. Congress also demanded withdrawing the decision to freeze D.A. of all employees and pensioners of the state.
“At one stage, there was only one case left in the state and Himachal was on verge of becoming a corona free state. The sudden erroneous decision of the Chief Minister has resulted in a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases within no time. It shows the failure and debacle of the administration of Jai Ram Thakur’s government,”
the opposition party said.
Shimla-Himachal Pradesh Government employees working in different departments before January 3, 2022, would be given a higher scale at par with other employees on completion of two years tenure of regular service. A higher pay scale was also announced for the Junior Office Assistants (IT) on completion of two years of regular service.
Chief Minister Jairam Thakur made these announcements during the Karamchari Maha Sammelan of the Himachal Pradesh Non-Gazetted Employees Federation at the hotel Peterhof on Sunday.
He appreciated the role played by the employee especially frontline workers in the battle against the pandemic.
He said most of the government employees in the state have been given revised pay scales and on average, every employee has got the benefit of a 12 to 15 percent salary hike. There has also been an increase in the pension of about 1.50 lakh pensioners of the state. The financial benefits of Rs. 7801 crore have been given to state government employees and pensioners from the year 2018 to 2022. The pensioners who retired before 2016 are getting the benefit of a 15 to 20 percent increase in the pension while around 40 thousand pensioners who retired after 2016 would be benefitted soon, he said.
He said the daily wages were Rs. 210 in the year 2017 which has been increased by the present state government to Rs. 350. Similarly, 12 per cent interim relief annually has been provided to government employees and pensioners during the present government’s tenure. He said the Himachal government has provided Dearness Allowance to its employees and pensioners on the lines of Punjab and Central governments from the due date. The Punjab government has given only 5 percent interim relief to the employees while the Himachal government has provided 21 percent interim relief to its employees.
“Out of the total interim relief amount given to the employees and pensioners amounting to about Rs. 6500 crore, Rs. 3500 crore has been paid during the tenure of our government” added the Chief Minister.
He said that the state government has increased the government contribution for NPS employees from 10 percent to 14 percent benefitting more than one lakh employees. The NPS employees are being given the benefits of retirement and death gratuity at par with employees falling under the old pension scheme. The government has also increased the upper limit of death gratuity from Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh.
The Chief Minister said the state government has also increased the honorarium of para-workers working in various departments. The salary of outsource workers has been hiked by Rs 1,500 per month.
Non-Gazetted Employees Federation President Ashwani Thakur thanked the Chief Minister for providing various financial and other benefits to different categories of government employees.
New Delhi-The Centre has issued a notification to the States informing that the provisions of the Disaster Management (DM) Act, 2005 will not be invoked in the country after March 31. The Union Health Ministry said that the use of face masks and following hand hygiene will continue.
It implies that most of the Covid-related rules and restrictions would end.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla issued the notification which said that the decision was taken following the overall improvement in the situation and the preparedness of the government in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, local authorities and State police can still invoke fines and criminal cases against persons violating COVID-19 norms under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), a senior government official said.
The DM Act was invoked on March 24, 2020, due to the pandemic
“Over the last seven weeks or so there has been a steep decline in the number of cases. The total caseload in the country stands at 23,913 only and the daily positivity rate has declined to 0.28%. It is also worth mentioning that with the combined efforts, a total of 181.56 Cr vaccine doses have been administered,” the notification said.
“I would like to mention that in view of the nature of the disease, we still need to remain watchful of the situation. Wherever any surge in the number of cases is observed, the States/UTs may consider taking prompt and proactive action at a local level, as advised by MoHFW (Health Ministry) from time to time,” the notification said.
The Indian government had issued various guidelines and measures for the first time on March 24, 2020, under the Disaster Management Act to curb the COVID-19 situation in the country, which have been modified several times thereafter.
India currently has 23,087 active COVID-19 cases and recorded 1,778 new cases and 62 deaths in the last 24 hours. The daily positivity rate has also declined to 0.28%.
Shimla-A meeting of the Himachal Pradesh Cabinet was held on March 20, 2022, under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.
The excise policy for the financial year 2022-23 was approved. Approval was also given for the renewal of retail excise vends in the state for the financial year 2022-23 at the renewal fees of 4% of the value of unit/vend.
The State Government said that wants to enhance the government revenue and curb the smuggling of country liquor from the neighbouring states by a reduction in its price.
The brands of Country Liquor will be cheaper as license fees have been reduced. This will help in providing good quality liquor at a cheaper rate to the consumers.
In the new excise policy, the 15% fixed quota of country liquor for manufacturers and bottlers to be supplied to the retail licensees has been abolished. According to the government, this step will give the retail licensees to lift their quota from the suppliers of their choice and further assure the supply of good quality country liquor at competitive prices. The MRP of country liquor will be cheaper by 16% of the existing price.
In this year’s policy, the Gaudhan Vikas Nidhi Fund has been enhanced by Re.1/- from the existing Rs.1.50 to Rs.2.50.
The fixed annual license fee of Bars has been rationalized by abolishing the area-specific slabs of license fee. Now throughout the State, there will be uniform license slabs based upon the room capacity in hotels.
Rates of the annual fixed license fee of Bars in the tribal areas has been reduced considerably.
Further, all the above stakeholders will have to install CCTV cameras at their establishments as it was made mandatory for them.
Wholesale vends and retail vends, the penalty provisions under the H.P. Excise Act, 2011 have been made more stringent.
An end to end online Excise Administration System would be established in Himachal Pradesh, the government said.
HP Government estimates a collection of Rs 2131 crore revenue during the year, which will be Rs. 264 crores higher than the financial year 2021-22 – growth of 14% in state excise revenues.
The Cabinet also gave its nod to amend Himachal Pradesh Disaster Relief Manual-2012 to include deaths due to biting of honey bees, hornet and wasps, accidental drowning and deaths due to accidents of vehicles (including land, water and air) under this Manual.
The Cabinet gave its approval for filling up 11 posts of ‘A’ Class Tehsildar in Revenue Department through direct recruitment on regular basis through Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission.
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