Shimla, Feb. 17 -- The Himachal Pradesh assembly saw heated discussion on Monday on the issue of the 16th Finance Commission's decision to discontinue the Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) for 17 states, including Himachal Pradesh. During the discussion, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu clarified that despite the economic challenges, the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) will not be discontinued in the state. Addressing the concerns of employees of HPSEBL, CM stated that the Electricity Board will not be privatised. Harshwardhan Chauhan stated that this issue is not about any one political party, but concerns the interests of the state's 7.5 million citizens. He said Himachal's share in central taxes had already declined after discontinuation of GST compensation, and now RDG will also be discontinued, further hampering the financial situation. Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, while participating in the discussion, targeted Sukhu while advising the government to stop "wasteful expenditure", saying that if this is not done, employees' salaries, allowances, pensions, and development works could be in jeopardy. htc...