Not charity to Himachal; special package was our right, says minister Harshvardhan Chauhan
Shimla (Himachal Pradesh), India- September 23 (ANI): In the debate of the central aid to natural disasters, the Industry Minister Harshvardhan Chauhan remarked on Tuesday that the Centre did not give Himachal any charity but only standard disaster relief that is provided to all the states.
In a Shimla press conference, Chauhan accused BJP of overrating the centre and said that Himachal had not been getting the special economic package it deserved after the recent calamities.
The Centre has done nothing charitable to Himachal; the help we got is just another routine disaster relief that has been allocated to all states. But the BJP is singing its own praises that the Centre has showered Himachal with money," Chauhan added.
The minister emphasized that, regardless of the challenges that have never been witnessed before, the state revised its disaster relief manual to offer prompt assistance to families affected. In 2023 and 2025 Himachal incurred losses of Rs 10,000 crore and 5,000 crore respectively, but in the past five years it obtained only 4,253 crore through NDRF, SDRF and other sources.
He said that Himachal had failed to get special economic package.
Chauhan attacked the BJP and criticised the former Chief Minister, Jairam Thakur, who only worked on his constituency but not the entire state.
Jairam Thakur and the BJP have heaped praise on the Centre, fooling that rivers of money were flowing into Himachal. He goes to Delhi with demands of projects and funds on behalf of Siraj, when he ought to talk about issues that concern the state. Thakur is not the ruler of Himachal, he is only limited to the Siraj Assembly section, Chauhan said.
Chauhan emphasized that the constitutional role of the Centre is to provide assistance to the states in times of calamities and enhance their organisational structures. He repeated that Himachal wants no alms.
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