Shimla: Taking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announced ₹1,500 crore relief package as a case in point, the Congress on Saturday hit back at BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda, saying tall claims mean little when the money never reaches disaster-hit Himachal Pradesh.
Tribal Development Minister Jagat Singh Negi and Panchayati Raj Minister Anirudh Singh said that months after the Prime Minister announced the ₹1,500 crore package for relief and rehabilitation, not a single rupee has been released to the state.
While welcoming Nadda’s rise to the top post in the BJP, the two ministers said it was painful that Himachal’s interests were not being forcefully taken up with the Union government. Being from Himachal Pradesh, they said, Nadda was in a position to ensure justice to the state but had failed to do so.
The ministers also flagged the withholding of ₹9,200 crore deposited under the National Pension Scheme, calling it a major contributor to the state’s growing debt burden. They said the Centre further tightened the noose by cutting Himachal’s borrowing limit after the state decided to implement the Old Pension Scheme.
According to them, the borrowing limit was curtailed by ₹1,600 crore, leading to a cumulative loss of around ₹4,800 crore over the past three years. At the same time, the Revenue Deficit Grant has been sharply reduced and the state’s annual loan limit has crashed from ₹10,949 crore in 2021–22 to just ₹3,257 crore in 2025–26.
They said most of the permitted borrowings are now being spent on interest repayment after the Centre withdrew the additional ₹1,600 crore borrowing window.
Referring to the 2023 monsoon disaster, the ministers said a central team assessed losses at ₹9,000–9,500 crore and the state submitted a claim of ₹9,042 crore under the PDNA framework. However, Himachal is still waiting for nearly ₹10,000 crore under PDNA, apart from the separate ₹1,500 crore package announced earlier.
In contrast, they said, the state government mobilised ₹4,500 crore from its own resources to support disaster-affected families, without any special package from the Centre.
Urging Nadda to intervene, the ministers said Himachal expects more from the Centre and its tallest BJP leader from the state should ensure that long-pending dues and relief are released in the best interest of the people.
