Himachal wants high level committee to assess financial impact; Punjab wants Special Category Status

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday (June 11, 2026) urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to arrange a high-level committee to consider the financial influence on the hill State and accord Special Category Status (SCS) to the western border State respectively.

They have been talking on the eleventh Governing Council assembly of NITI Aayog held beneath the theme ‘Inclusive human improvement for Viksit Bharat’, chaired by the Prime Minister in New Delhi.

Key issues

Mr. Sukhu stated the financial influence arose from a number of key issues, together with the discontinuation of the Income Deficit Grant (RDG, i.e. statutory financial transfers offered by the Centre to particular States to bridge the hole between their assessed income and expenditure), losses attributable to pure disasters, insufficient compensation from hydropower initiatives when it comes to free energy and income shortfalls ensuing from the Items and Companies Tax framework.

He stated Himachal is contributing in the direction of the expansion of the nation regardless of these limitations and sought an in depth report by a high-level committee to the Authorities of India in order that the State might get its “due share”.

‘Main blow’

“The discontinuation of RDG posed a significant blow to the economic system of the State and the ₹25,000 crore offered to the State is inadequate to compensate the loss. It must be elevated to ₹50,000 crore in order that improvement actions could be carried out in a clean method,” he stated.

“Himachal Pradesh gives ₹90,000 crore ecological providers to the nation as per a examine performed by the Indian Institute of Forest Administration. Nevertheless, the State is just not being compensated accordingly towards its contribution in the direction of preserving ecology. The State was being disadvantaged of honest quantity of free energy on 13,000 MW energy being produced within the State. The State has nonetheless not obtained arrears amounting to ₹7,000 crore from the Bhakra Beas Administration Board. It bore the brunt of pure disasters and nonetheless awaits the introduced ₹1,500 crore particular help,” Mr. Sukhu added.

90:10 funding: Mann

Mr. Mann sought a particular bundle for the revitalisation of border areas and demanded that Punjab be accorded SCS with 90:10 funding beneath all Centrally-sponsored schemes on the traces of hill States, north-eastern States and Jammu & Kashmir.

“Punjab is a frontline State sharing a 553-km border with Pakistan. It faces a deep and multidimensional disaster that features persistent cross-border terrorism, drone-based smuggling of heroin and weapons. This has resulted in a drug habit epidemic amongst youth, organised crime and each day hardship for farmers cultivating land between the safety fence and the Worldwide Border beneath Border Safety Pressure escort,” he stated.

“Though Punjab acts as a buffer for the nation towards repeated hostilities from our neighbour, help from the Authorities of India has been grossly insufficient for the State and its border areas,” Mr. Mann added.