The hill state of Himachal Pradesh will go to polls on November 12. The state has the tradition of unseating the party in power every five years. This time, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress are in a neck-and-neck fight for the 68 seats, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI-M) have also joined the fray. All parties are taking up various issues during their poll campaigns to draw the attention of the electorate.
There are a host of issues that the state faces. As the polls are just a week away, let’s take a look at 5 of the most important ones:
Unemployment
This is the biggest and most dominant issue this time. The statistics reflect a very worrying situation.
The unemployment rate in Himachal stood at 9.2 per cent and 8.6 per cent in September and October 2022 respectively, as against the national average of 7.6 per cent, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has revealed.
According to another study, Himachal has around 15 lakh unemployed persons, of whom 8.77 lakh have registered for jobs with employment exchanges across the state. Experts attribute this to a lack of job avenues and a slash in government job vacancies.
The old pension scheme (OPS) was scrapped in 2003. In 2021, the state government set up a committee to look into the demands of employees covered under the new pension plan.
This February, a government employees’ union voiced its angst and called for a restoration of OPS in the state. In October, during a poll campaign, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra promised to restore the OPS if Congress gets a mandate. The AAP has also said it would bring OPS back.
Kangara resident S Gopal Puri, who is the president of Himachal Dharamshala Press Club, said, “Unemployment has become a decisive issue in Himachal elections because the government employees are giving hype to OPS. People are coming out in the open and saying that if the government staff can’t survive without OPS then what will be the fate of unemployed youth.
OPS should be restored in Himachal. MLAs and ministers get umpteen benefits to safeguard their future at the cost of common people. Why can’t other people get the benefit of OPS? It is not a favour or a grant,” said Govind Chatranta, a retired government employee and social activist from Jubbal.
The apple industry is in shambles and reeling under an acute crisis. There have been protests by apple farmers and they are angry about the raw deal meted out to them. Rising input costs — including fertilisers and fungicides — and low returns, a spike in fuel costs, and weather fluctuations coupled with a push given to big agro-industries have left the apple farmers with no choice but to take the protest path.
The final nail in the coffin has been the hike in Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 12% to 18% on cartons. Corporate biggies dictate the terms and small farmers have to cow down. These giants buy only apples that meet their yardstick of ‘good quality’, which is unfair. There is no minimum procurement rate for apples in Himachal and, as a result, a major chunk of the juicy fruits is given away at throwaway prices, much to the chagrin of the farmers.
