VIJAYAWADA: In what could be an indication of the impending financial crisis in the State, it is learnt that the government has already gone for overdrafts thrice in the first two weeks of the new fiscal year. The situation is so grim that officials are worried as to how to pay salaries of staff next month.
According to information, several bills–including inter-departmental expenses, reportedly amounting to Rs 30,000 crore–are put on hold. Sources in the finance department confirmed this. “Besides the borrowings, we had to go for overdraft due to the financial condition,” an official said.
A top official told TNIE: “It is true that many bills are pending, which we were able to know in detail only after a meeting with the Chief Secretary last week. We are working on clearing them...”
It might be worth noting that the State government had rolled out new welfare schemes and enhanced the benefits of old ones in an apparent bid to lure voters ahead of the polls. From depositing Rs 4,000 in the accounts of farmers under ‘Annadata Sukhibhava’ to transferring Rs 10,000 to beneficiaries of ‘Pasupu Kumkuma’, the TDP government, the officials said, used most of the available funds for implementing the welfare programmes.
However, Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu defended the move to go for overdrafts. “We are sticking to the guidelines set by the RBI, while going for overdraft. But, there is a false propaganda being carried out against the government,” he said, in a press statement, on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Piyush Kumar visited Delhi and held talks with the Additional Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs on externally-aided projects in the State.