Shimla, Mar 2 (PTI) A White Paper on the economic condition of Himachal Pradesh would be presented in the upcoming Assembly session, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Thursday.

Welcoming the decision, Leader of opposition Jai Ram Thakur blamed the Congress for taking maximum loans while in power and said "we are ready for an open discussion on that White Paper".

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Concerned over the "precarious" financial health of the state, Chief Minister Sukhu said the paper would help the people of Himachal Pradesh to understand the reality of the "unmindful spending done by the previous BJP government".

"The present state government has inherited a debt of Rs 75 thousand crore and the previous BJP government failed to release a sum of Rs 11 thousand crore for arrears of the government employees," he told the media here.

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Additionally, more than 900 institutions were opened and upgraded during the last six months of the previous government, which would have resulted in an additional burden of Rs 5,000 crore on the state exchequer, he said and advised the Leader of the Opposition to introspect about the last five years of the BJP government before levelling any allegations.

Hitting back, BJP leader Thakur said Chief Minister Sukhu has been running the government for three months and "so far no new work has been done" and advised him to focus on development works instead of accusing the BJP.

"Once again we make it clear that the figures which Congress leaders are presenting to the public are completely wrong," he said in a statement issued here.

"Ever since the Congress government was formed in Himachal Pradesh, development has come to a standstill in the entire state and it is high time that Congress stop making allegations and talk about development," he said.

He said that when the BJP was in power, the Congress used to create hue and cry about the "misuse" of helicopter, but now the chief minister, deputy chief minister and their ministers are using it.

"In Himachal Pradesh, the helicopter was hired at the lowest rates across the country and it is to be seen what deal the Congress government would strike for hiring helicopters," Thakur said.

CM Sukhu, who visited the Congress office (Rajiv Bhawan) on Thursday, said regular monthly interaction between the ministers and Congress workers would be held at the party office to ensure speedy redressal of the grievances of the Congress workers.

This move has been initiated in consultation with state Congress president Pratibha Singh, he said, adding that this would improve better coordination between the state government and Congress workers as well as the general public.

He reiterated that the state government is "fully committed to fulfil all 10 guarantees in their 'Pratigya Patra', as assured to the people of the state during the recently concluded general assembly elections.

He said the old pension scheme has been reinstated in the very first cabinet meeting, which would benefit more than 1.36 lakh government employees. He said other guarantees would be fulfilled in a phased manner.

Sukhu said Rajiv Gandhi Day Boarding Schools would be opened in each assembly constituency of the state to ensure quality education to the students.

He said the state government is marching ahead with a positive approach to improve the economy of the state so that the aspirations of the people could be fulfilled.

Meanwhile, BJP workers celebrated the party's victory in Tripura and Nagaland assembly elections. BJP workers led by Thakur gathered at Sher-e-Punjab in Shimla and raised slogans and distributed sweets.

Thakur said the BJP has performed very well in Tripura and Nagaland and congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda for this victory.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)