Punjab Newsline | Shimla
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu made a series of major announcements for government employees, pensioners, healthcare workers and other sections of society during the state-level Independence Day celebrations at Government Senior Secondary School, Barsar, on Friday.
Chief Minister Sukhu announced that National Health Mission (NHM) employees who have completed seven years of service will receive revised pay scales with effect from April 1.
He also announced revised salaries for outsourced staff nurses and paramedical personnel, including lab technicians, pharmacists and operation theatre technicians. Their revised salary of ₹25,000 per month will be implemented from September, while data entry operators will receive a revised salary of ₹18,000.
Chief Minister further announced that the state government will introduce a new health insurance policy under which poor families will receive health insurance coverage of up to ₹10 lakh.
Sukhu said 100 panchayats would be developed as green panchayats in the coming period. He also announced that 4,000 posts would be filled in the Jal Shakti Department, while thousands of vacancies would be filled across various government departments.
He said no doctor would retire in the state until March 31, 2027. The honorarium of Van Mitras will also be increased to ₹1,200.
The government will fill one chowkidar post each in 1,975 government schools, the Chief Minister said. He added that the government was considering bringing a policy for multi-task workers and outsourced employees.
A major educational announcement was also made for Hamirpur, where Himachal Pradesh's first dedicated science college will be established at an estimated cost of ₹100 crore.
Relief for Employees and Pensioners
Addressing employees and pensioners, Sukhu said the previous government had left liabilities of more than ₹10,000 crore in the form of salary and pension arrears before the present government came to power.
He said that despite the state's difficult financial situation, his government had so far paid more than ₹2,170 crore towards salary and pension arrears to employees and pensioners.
As part of the latest relief measures, Class IV government employees will receive an additional ₹20,000 towards their salary arrears this month.
Pensioners and family pensioners from Class III who retired between 2016 and December 2021 will receive an additional 30% payment towards their pension or family pension arrears this month. Class I and Class II pensioners and family pensioners will receive 15% of their pension or family pension arrears during the same period.
Government will spend around ₹281 crore on these salary and pension arrears payments.
Earlier in the day, at around 11:02 am, Chief Minister Sukhu unfurled the national flag at the state-level Independence Day program in Barsar.
