Congress demands white paper from govt on Assam's financial position

Guwahati, Oct 17:The Principal Opposition Congress party on Wednesday alleged that Assam is facing an acute financial crisis and called upon the government to publish a white paper on the exact "financial position" of the state in the period from 2021 to 2024.

Addressing a press conference here, former president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) and former Rajya Sabha member, Ripun Bora, said that the state's revenue deficit has gone up substantially under the present Himanta Biswa Sarma-led dispensation.

"The revenue deficit was Rs 2,732.77 crore in 2021-2022, and it went up to Rs 12,072.35 crore in 2022-23, which is an increase of 341.76 percent in a single year. As far as the fiscal deficit is concerned, it was Rs 4,779.06 crore in 2018-18, which went up to Rs 19,863.12 crore in 2021-22 and to as much as Rs 30,204.83 crore in 2022-23. Thus, the fiscal deficit witnessed an increase of 52.06 percent in a single year between 2021-22 and 2022-23," Bora said.

He said that the state government has become dependent on loans and borrowings. Bora added that the total debt of the state at the end of the 15-year rule of the Tarun Gogoi-led government in 2016 was Rs 35,000 crore.

"During the tenure of Sarbananda Sonowal as the Chief Minister in 2016-2021, the debt increased to Rs 66,020.65 crore. On the other hand, with- in the first two-and-a-half years of the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government taking charge, from 2021 to 2024, the debt has increased to Rs 1,52,000 crore, which is an increase of Rs 85,980 crore. As a result, the state has to pay a major part of its budget amount, to the tune of Rs 7,299.18 crore annually, as interest on this debt. Loans are not taken for any major projects or development programs but to meet the day-to-day expenses of the government and the individual beneficiary scheme expenses," Bora said.

He added, "During 2018-19, the revenue expenditure of the state government was Rs 56,899 crore, which went up to Rs 1,01,814.65 crore in 2022-23. This constitutes 84.88 percent of the total expenditure of the state, which was Rs 1,19,952.20 crore in 2022–23. That means that only 15 percent of the money was left for development purposes. The state government has no other means to meet its huge expenses except through the loan amounts. The government is paying for Orunodoi and other such individual beneficiary schemes from the loans to keep intact the beneficiaries as the vote bank of the BJP. As per the CAG report of 2022–23, the capital expenditure, which is used for the creation of fixed infrastructure assets like bridges, roads, buildings, etc., decreased by 20.51 percent from Rs 20,125.83 crore in 2021–22 to Rs 15,999.71 crore in 2022–23. This drastic curtailment is due to an acute financial crisis," said the senior Congress party leader.

Bora added, "Due to financial mismanagement and to meet heavy expenses on the beneficiary schemes on account of political considerations, the liability to the contractors and the suppliers' bills has gone up to Rs 26,000 crore till March 2024. This has happened due to a financial crisis."

He further asserted that there is a huge amount of out-standing as salary to the contractual and daily wage employees, Anganwadi workers and ASHA workers, mid-day meal cooks, and institutions running in grants-in-aid and financial assistance systems. "Due to the state's financial crisis, the salaries of the employees of such sectors are lying pending for several months to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore as of March 2024," Bora said.

The APCC has demanded that the state government publish a white paper on the exact financial position of Assam under Chief Minister Sarma's dispensation in the period between 2021 and 2024. "The white paper should show the total revenue receipts, details of the funds received from the Centre under different heads, the amount received as loans and borrowings, the expenses on different heads and sectors, the reasons for the drastic cut on capital expenditure, and the reasons for the repeated increase of VAT on petrol and diesel," Bora said.

By

Staff Reporter