Himachal Faces Economic Crisis: RDG Ends, UPS Recommended Over OPS, Subsidies Cut

• Finance Commission terminates Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) for Himachal Pradesh, signaling a major economic crisis.
• Finance Department recommends Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) over Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and proposes ending various subsidies.
• Recommendations include stopping food and electricity subsidies, potentially saving 1200 crore rupees, and reviewing social security pensions.
• Proposal to adopt UPS/NPS for future recruitments could generate 1800 crore rupees annually in additional borrowing.
• The 1500-rupee payments to women under the Indira Gandhi scheme are deemed unlikely, with only one installment provided to 35,000 women so far.