States » NorthPosted at: Feb 11 2026 5:37PM


Extravagance amid austerity: Questions over royal culture in Himachal's power corridors

Shimla, Feb 11(UNI) Even as the Himachal Pradesh government repeatedly cites financial distress to justify freezing dearness allowance, delaying arrears and putting on hold salary and pension revisions, allegations of wasteful expenditure and a "royal culture" within the power structure refuse to die down.
Former Registrar of Himachal Pradesh University, H.N. Bhardwaj, has squarely blamed successive state governments for encouraging extravagance while publicly projecting austerity. He said that the state has developed a culture where political executives, non-elected chairmen and vice-chairmen, re-employed bureaucrats and retired advisers enjoy luxury vehicles, refurbished high-category government bungalows, helicopter rides and round-the-clock private vehicles, even as employees and pensioners are asked to make sacrifices.
Bhardwaj argued that such expenditure has little to do with governance and everything to do with entitlement.
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