Mention of some sections skipped in budget due to officers' negligence: Himachal minister

The government has taken a strong cognisance of it, Vikramaditya he added.Mention of some sections has been skipped in the budget due to negligence of officers and we have taken a strong cognisance of it and discussed the matter with the chief minister.

Apparently upset over omission of some sections in the state budget, Himachal Pradesh Public Works Minister Vikramaditya said that it was due to negligence of some officers. The government has taken a ''strong cognisance'' of it, Vikramaditya he added.

''Mention of some sections has been skipped in the budget due to negligence of officers and we have taken a strong cognisance of it and discussed the matter with the chief minister. The chief minister has assured to clarify the situation in the Vidhan Sabha and we are thankful for that'', he said in a Facebook post on Saturday evening after the budget was presented.

Talking to PTI on Sunday, Singh said that multi-purpose workers of the Public Works Department (PWD) have been left out in the budget and no reference has been made regarding the job seekers sitting on dharnas for early declaration of results.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had presented the annual Budget of Rs 58,444 crore for 2024-25 on Saturday.

A large number of candidates who had appeared for junior office assistant (information technology), secretariat clerks and drawing masters examinations are sitting on dharna along with their families at Chaura, Maidan, near the legislative assembly demanding declaration of results.

The Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission (HPSSC), Hamirpur, was scrapped in February 2023, two months after the paper leak was unearthed on December 23, 2022 when the vigilance arrested Senior Assistant of the commission Uma Azad allegedly with solved question papers and Rs 2.5 lakh in cash. Later, results of several examinations were withheld when the vigilance pointed out irregularities in examinations.

Earlier, Congress MLA from the Sujanpur assembly seat had written a letter to the chief minister saying that even after 14 months of formation of the government, the youth is still waiting for jobs.

''We had promised to provide employment to one lakh youths every year and the youths of the state are eagerly waiting for the fulfilment of that promise,'' he had said in the letter also posted on Facebook.

State Congress chief Pratibha Singh, wife of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh and mother of Vikramaditya Singh, had earlier said that there are no differences between the government and the Congress organisation, but after the formation of the Congress government in the state, there are many tasks which have not been completed yet.