Shimla, March 21 -- Leader of the Opposition in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, Jairam Thakur, on Saturday strongly criticised the reduction in the outlay of the State Budget, cautioning against a "grave crisis."

In a major austerity push, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday announced a six-month deferment of salaries for ministers, legislators and senior officials, along with a Rs 3,586 crore reduction in the overall budget size.

Speaking to ANI, the BJP leader pointed out that the Congress government will face difficulty in fulfilling its promises amid a crunch of funds.

"I don't know who prepared the budget, and if it was the officials who prepared it, action should be taken against them as well. The budg...