50-page speech in 2 mins: Himachal Pradesh governor Shiv Pratap Shukla skips RDG cut portion in House address

SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh governor Shiv Pratap Shukla concluded his customary address to the legislative assembly in just two minutes on Monday, refusing to read 14 key paragraphs that related to the 16th Finance Commission's decision to discontinue the Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG).Marking the start of the first phase of the Congress govt's fourth Budget session, Shukla read only the first two of the 130 paragraphs in the 50-page speech prepared by the state govt. He declined to read paragraphs 3 through 16, stating they contained comments regarding a constitutional body. The governor further remarked that the remaining sections (paragraphs 17 to 130) detailed state govt achievements, which legislators could deliberate upon independently. The portions skipped by the governor expressed concern over the 16th Finance Commission's total abolition of the RDG—a vital fiscal lifeline for hill states. While the 15th Finance Commission had recommended Rs 48,630 crore in RDG for Himachal between 2020 and 2026, the new commission has eliminated the grant entirely and slashed urban local body grants from Rs 855 crore to Rs 435 crore. According to the skipped text, the RDG constitutes approximately 12.7% of Himachal's annual budget—the second-highest dependency in India after Nagaland. The state govt argued that this withdrawal creates a nominal deficit of roughly Rs 33,195 crore, which would be significantly higher in real terms. The text warned that losing this funding would severely impact social welfare, disaster management, and development in a state already hampered by difficult terrain and limited revenue sources. Following the governor's abbreviated address, the House paid respects to former BJP MLA Bhagat Ram Chauhan. In a show of executive-legislative tension, the House re-passed two bills— The Real Estate (Regulation And Development) Himachal Pradesh Amendment Bill, 2025, and The Municipal Corporation (Second Amendment) Bill—without changes, after the governor had previously returned them. The session also included a debate on a govt resolution regarding the impact of the RDG withdrawal. CM: It's not unprecedented Reacting to the two-minute address, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said it was not unprecedented. He said that during the previous BJP administration under Jai Ram Thakur, the governor had similarly asked that the speech be considered as read. However, Sukhu emphasised that since the governor opted not to read the state's achievements over the last three years, the govt would ensure these reached the public through other channels. "Discussions on our schemes, which benefit the most marginalised, will take place in the House and reach the people through the media," Sukhu said.