No proposal to allow non-agriculturist Himachal natives to purchase land without permission: CM

There is no proposal to make any provision to allow non-agriculturist natives of Himachal Pradesh to purchase land without the permission of the government, Revenue Minister Jagat Singh told the Vidhan Sabha in reply to a question by BJP's Satpal Singh Satti on Tuesday. He said they can purchase land only with the government's permission as per the provision of Section 118 of HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act. All the Himachalis not having agricultural land come under the category of non-agriculturists and can purchase land only with the permission of the government, he added.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu told the House in reply to a question of BJP's Bikram Thakur that out of 1,86,434 regular employees and officers, 1,17,521 have opted for the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), which is applicable in all government departments.

He said that all the public undertakings are independent units and rules and directions of the government do not apply to these units. He said that 12806 employees have retired after opting for the OPS and no dues are pending.


The chief minister informed the House that 13 cases of crypto currency frauds were registered during the past two years and 80 accused were arrested.

Out of these, 76 accused were from the state, he told the House in a written reply to Kewal Singh Pathania (Congress). Seven cases are under investigation and property cases are pending in courts and moveable and immovable properties worth Rs 37 crore have been confiscated in these cases.

Replying to a question of BJP's Randhir Sharma, the chief minister said that detailed project reports (DPRs) of MLAs priority projects involving an expenditure of Rs 904.78 crore are pending with NABARD and the Planning Department has written to it to re-prioritise these DPRs.

He said that 118 DPRs pertaining to 28 Assembly constituencies were pending as on January 5, 2024.

Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan informed the House that 1531 cases of illegal mining were caught during 2024-25 and action was taken against 981 accused and penalties of Rs 77.96 lakh were recovered.