CHANDIGARH: Ahead of the Punjab Budget scheduled to be tabled in the state Assembly on March 8 (Sunday), the Punjab Congress on Thursday demanded a White Paper on the state’s finances, citing mounting debt that has crossed the Rs 4 lakh crore “red line” and is projected to reach Rs 4.17 lakh crore by the end of the current fiscal.
The budget will be the last of the present AAP-led state government.
The party alleged that “reckless borrowing by the AAP government has brought Punjab on the brink of bankruptcy”.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said that while previous governments during the past three decades had borrowed funds, the current government had done so with wanton greed without caring for the future of the state.
He said that while previous governments had accumulated Rs 3 lakh crore of debt over 30 years, the AAP government had added over Rs 1 lakh crore to the state’s debt in just four years, mostly for unproductive purposes. He pointed out that not a single infrastructure development project had been launched during the last four years.
Warring said this was contrary to the claims of fiscal prudence and revenue generation promised by the AAP leadership.
He added that the situation had reached a stage where the state government had to allegedly take fresh loans to pay interest on existing ones.
Noting the precarious financial situation of the state, he alleged that the AAP government was splurging money on non-productive expenditure such as advertisements, hoardings, banners and the painting of government assets.
“Public money is not meant for political branding,” he remarked, adding, “when the state is drowning in debt, every rupee should strengthen Punjab’s economy and institutions and not promote a party’s image”.