S Gopal Puri
DHARAMSHALA:
Eight bills recently approved by the President and the Himachal Pradesh Governor were formally tabled in the state Assembly at Tapovan in Dharamshala on Thursday (November 27, 2025).
With this, all eight have now taken the shape of law. The Assembly Secretary placed the bills before the House after receiving approval from Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania.
The bills include the Himachal Pradesh Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Bill-2025; the Himachal Pradesh MLAs’ Salaries and Pension Amendment Bill-2025, the Himachal Pradesh Ministers’ Salaries and Allowances Amendment Bill-2025, the Himachal Pradesh Speaker and Deputy Speaker Salary Amendment Bill-2025 and the Himachal Pradesh Taxation on Carriage of Certain Goods by Road Amendment Bill-2025.
Other bills tabled were the Himachal Pradesh Municipal Corporation Amendment Bill-2025, the Himachal Pradesh Loktantra Prahari Samman Repeal Bill-2023 and the Himachal Pradesh Municipalities Amendment Bill-2025. All have now been enacted.
Bill on extending tenure of Mayors to be introduced
A separate bill to extend the tenure of mayors and deputy mayors in municipal corporations to five years will be introduced later in the ongoing winter session.
On Day 1 of the session, Education Minister Rohit Thakur presented the Himachal Pradesh Municipal Corporation Amendment Ordinance-2025, which Urban Development Minister Vikramaditya Singh was slated to present but could not.
The ordinance had already increased the tenure of mayors and deputy mayors from two-and-a-half years to five years, citing the need for longer terms to ensure effective representation and faster execution of development works.
CM shares details on daily wagers, fire watchers, smart meter project
Responding in writing to a question from MLA Deepraj, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said the Forest Department currently employs 88 daily wagers, each earning Rs 425 per day. Additionally, 1,139 fire watchers are deployed seasonally during the fire season, also at a daily wage of Rs 425. He clarified that there is no plan to regularise the fire watchers.
On the state’s Reconstituted Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), the CM stated that installation of 29.18 lakh smart meters has been sanctioned. So far, 6,05,875 meters have been installed and the remaining are expected to be installed by July 2026. Responding to MLA Sukhram Chaudhary, he said the state has been allocated project funds worth Rs 4,115 crore under various components of the scheme.
Replying to a question by BJP MLA Satpal Singh Satti, Education Minister Rohit Thakur admitted that salary disbursement for employees of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) for April, July, September and October of FY 2025-26 was delayed due to administrative reasons. Salaries for May, June and August were released on time.
Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar informed the House that Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Agriculture University, Palampur, established on November 1, 1978, operates on 287.96 hectares and oversees three research centres, 10 sub-centres and eight Krishi Vigyan Kendras across the state.
Responding to MLA Vipin Singh Parmar, he said that 111.30 hectares were transferred to the Tourism and Civil Aviation Department in August 2024 for tourism activities. However, the Himachal Pradesh High Court issued stay orders in September and November 2024. An SLP has been filed before the Supreme Court and is currently under consideration.
