VIJAYAWADA: BJP leader Lanka Dinakar on Sunday questioned if the State government fabricated the speculative assets, while pointing out the observations made by the CAG in its report as disclosed by the Union Ministry of Finance in a letter to TDP MP K Rammohan Naidu.
In a press statement, Dinakar said the CAG had pointed out that the State government inflated capital expenditure by showcasing revenue expenditure as the former. “As a result of it, the factual revenue deficit had been reduced to the extent of inter-transfer from revenue expenditure to capital expenditure. It is nothing but killing two birds with one stone,” he said and added that the capital expenditure was raised artificially without creation of any asset to the state government.
“Is it not a financial disaster for the State government to divert Rs 895 crore given by the Center for natural disasters, to the personal account of the agriculture commissioner?”
“The actual capital expenditure incurred by the State is only 45% of the estimates in the Budget... One-third of which is illegally combined with revenue expenditure.”
According to him, the government projected the budgeted capital expenditure of Rs 32,293 crore in 2019-20, out of which only Rs 12,244 crore was incurred. If the capital expenditure in 2019-20 is miscalculated to the tune of Rs 4,779 crore, as per CAG observations, the actual capital expenditure would be less than Rs 7,500 crore.” “As per the State government figures, the revenue deficit in 2019-20 was Rs 26,440 crore. But if the revenue expenditure was to the extent of Rs 4,779 crore as per the CAG observation, then the revenue deficit would be Rs 31,219 crore,” he observed.