Representative image of cash.
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Shimla: The previous BJP government wasted crores of rupees on the investors' meet and other events but failed to clear pending salaries of state employees, Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS) Sanjay Awasthi alleged on Monday.
Awasthi, who is Congress MLA from Arki in Solan district, also claimed that the Finance Commission had promised Rs 1,000 crore for Mandi airport, Rs 400 crore for the expansion of Kangra airport and Rs 20 crore for Jawalamukhi temple, but no amount has been released yet.
Addressing a press conference here, he criticised the previous BJP government for failing to secure adequate financial support from the 15th Finance Commission, alleging that it caused a loss of Rs 1,420 crore to the state.
The previous BJP government made wasteful expenditure worth crores of rupees for organising events like 'Jan Manch' and Foundation Day, Awasthi said and added that Rs 19 crore was spent on the investors' meet organized in Dharamshala in 2019.
He said that the BJP government made big and unrealistic announcements, only to leave employees and citizens in the lurch.
"They (BJP govt) proudly declared revised salaries and dearness allowance (DA) worth Rs 10,600 crore just before (2022) elections, but failed to release the promised arrears to the employees," the CPS said.
"About Rs 10,000 crore in salary and Rs 600 crore DA arrears remain unpaid even today," he said.
Awasthi claimed that today the opposition leaders were left without any real issues and were unable to digest the growing popularity of the Congress government.
He said the people of the state are well aware of the "nefarious" designs of the BJP and have already discarded their "petty" politics.