SHIMLA-25 Feb, 2026

CM directs to clear pending bills of contractors up to Rs. 20 Lakh

Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has directed the Finance Department to clear all pending bills of contractors up to Rs. 20 lakh pertaining to various departments, including the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Jal Shakti Vibhag, across the State on a priority basis.

Giving details here today, a spokesperson of the Finance Department said that outstanding payments amounting to approximately Rs. 225 crore will be released shortly to various contractors.

He said that the decision has been taken to ease the financial burden on small and medium contractors and to ensure the smooth and uninterrupted execution of ongoing developmental works throughout the State.

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CM mourns death of Veer Soren

Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has condoled the death of Veer Soren, grandson of former Chief Minister of Jharkhand Champai Soren, who died at Kullu today.

The Chief Minister has conveyed his heartfelt condolences with the grief stricken family and expressed his sympathies with them in this difficult time.

He prayed to the Almighty to grant peace to the departed soul and strength to bereaved family members to bear this irreparable loss.

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CM directs not to stop social security pension of any eligible individuals

• Sought report from districts who did not conduct exposure visits of orphans

Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, while presiding over a meeting of the Social Justice and Empowerment Department here today, directed not to stop the social security pension of any eligible individuals. He said that all the eligible beneficiaries would continue to receive their pensions and asked the department to complete all the codal formalities of remaining eligible social security pensioners to ensure that no deserving beneficiary was deprived of their rights. He said that e-KYC of 7,60,772 has been completed so far and emphasized that all eligible individuals must be covered without exception.

Sh. Sukhu also reviewed Mukhya Mantri Sukh Aashray Yojna and said that 4131 children of the state were currently receiving the benefits under the scheme and the state government has allocated Rs. 30.69 crore to ensure its effective implementation. He instructed to conduct exposure and recreational visits of such children on the regular basis and sought the report from the districts that have not yet conducted any tour for such children.

The Chief Minister said that there was no dearth of money and assured that every eligible individual shall receive its rights. He said that the state government has made the provision to utilize 10 percent of the Local Area Development Fund for the welfare of orphan children. He said that to extend financial and educational support to the children of widows, destitute or divorced women and parents with disabilities, the state government has introduced Indira Gandhi Sukh Shiksha Yojna and there were 21588 beneficiaries across the state out of which 20735 were upto the age of 18 years. He said that the state government has allocated Rs. 31.01 crore under the scheme.

Sh. Sukhu said that the state government would allocate sufficient funds for these welfare schemes in the future also.

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dr. (Col.) Dhani Ram Shandil, Additional Chief Secretary Shyam Bhagat Negi, Principal Secretary Devesh Kumar, Secretaries to Chief Minister Rakesh Kanwar and Ashish Singhmar, Director ESOMSA Sumit Kimta, Director Women and Child Development Pankaj Lalit and other senior officers also attended the meeting.

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Stop misleading public, speak clearly on RDG, Congress to Opposition Leader

· People of Himachal will not fall for BJP’s misleading Tactics: Congress

Agriculture Minister Chaudhary Chander Kumar and Education Minister Rohit Thakur hit back at Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, stating that instead of misleading the people of the state, he should clearly state his position on the important issue of Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG). The ministers said that under Article 275(1) of the Constitution, RDG is the right of the states. Discontinuation of RDG would cause Himachal Pradesh an annual loss of approximately Rs. 10,000 crore. In such a situation, Jai Ram Thakur must clarify the BJP's stand on this issue.

They said that the Externally Aided Projects (EAPs) cited by the Leader of the Opposition are not grants but loans. He understands very well what loans mean. In contrast, RDG is a grant and a constitutional right of the people of Himachal Pradesh. During the Assembly session, BJP's stand on this issue has already been made clear before the 75 lakh people of the state. The people now understand that BJP was playing politics even on matters concerning the state's interests, and the opposition has no real concern for the rights of the people of Himachal Pradesh. Therefore, people will not fall for their tactics.

The ministers further said that due to public pressure, Jai Ram Thakur had to stage a meeting with the Union Finance Minister, but he failed to effectively present Himachal's interests before her. It would have been better if he had strongly advocated for the restoration of the RDG and returned with a clear assurance. Unfortunately, he did not even show the courage to firmly represent Himachal's rights before the central leadership in Delhi.

Chaudhary Chander Kumar and Rohit Thakur stated that no BJP leader has so far spoken a single word in support of restoring the RDG to Himachal Pradesh. A few months ago, however, Jai Ram Thakur himself had emphasized the need for the RDG before the 15th and 16th Finance Commissions, citing the state's geographical conditions and economic challenges. Now, the leader of opposition has taken a completely opposite stance which is beyond the understanding of the people of the state.They said that the Congress party will not compromise on the rights of Himachal Pradesh and will strongly raise its voice for the state's rights at every platform.

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Meeting to finalize MSHIPA Training Calendar held

Secretary stresses capacity building and timely Nominations

Ms. A Shainamol Secretary Administrative reforms, Training and Redressal of Public Grievances chaired a meeting here today to deliberate upon the finalization of the Training Calendar for the financial year 2026-27 of Dr. Manmohan Singh Himachal Pradesh Institute of Public Administration (MSHIPA) and to review key issues relating to participation, capacity building and identification of Master Trainers across departments.

It was informed that MSHIPA was in the process of finalizing its Training Calendar for 2026-27 based on the specific training needs of various Autonomous Departments, Corporations, Boards and other bodies, in accordance with the State Training Policy, 2009.

She said that a template has already been circulated to departments to assess and communicate their requirements which should be submitted by 5^th March 2026 positively. She said that nominations for training programmes must be relevant and aligned with course objectives to ensure meaningful outcomes. As per the Training Policy, every civil servant must receive induction training at entry into service, in-service training at the time of each promotion or at least once in five years and exposure to major development issues and new techniques through short-duration courses and seminars.

She further said that the departments were also reminded to earmark up to one percent of the salaries head of their annual budget under the Training Head, in coordination with the Planning and Finance Department.

She also discussed the issue of delayed confirmation of participation by nominated officers, which creates administrative difficulties in arranging boarding, lodging and classroom facilities. It was informed that NIC was upgrading the online nomination software to facilitate timely submission of forms and nominations would be accepted strictly through the online system within the prescribed deadline.

Deliberations were also held on the preparation of Department-wise Capacity Building Plans (CBPs) through the Integrated Government Online Training (iGOT) AI platform to identify domain, functional and behavioural competency requirements.

She directed departments to refine their CBPs and ensure registration of officers and officials on the iGOT platform for undertaking online courses as mandated by the Capacity Building Commission, Government of India. She also stressed the identification of Master Trainers in each department to enable decentralized and workplace-based training and MSHIPA would organise training programmes for the nominated Master Trainers.

She further said that MSHIPA has entered into an agreement with GIZ under the SDG localization project, under which 20 Master Trainers, including at least eight women, would be trained. A total of 32 workshops would be conducted to train around 600 government officials and staff in SDG localization, data-driven decision-making and governance, ensuring at least 40 per cent female participation.

She emphasized the need for coordinated efforts to strengthen institutional capacity and ensure effective implementation of the State’s training policy.

Director MSHIPA Rupali Thakur, Additional Director Prashant Sirkek was also present in the meeting amongst other senior officers. (eom)