Shimla: Ahead of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, the incumbent BJP government and opposition Congress are exchanging barbs over the mounting debts of the State government. Congress and BJP have ruled Himachal alternately. Both parties put each other in the dock regarding the accumulation of debts.
The Congress alleges that the BJP has drowned the state in debt, while the BJP says that the Congress party is the only one responsible for Himachal's rising debts over the years. Himachal currently has a debt of Rs 67,404 crore. While the incumbent BJP government led by CM Jairam Thakur has taken a total loan of Rs 19,498 crore in five years, during the government of Virbhadra Singh led Congress government, a total loan of Rs 19,200 crore was taken in the period from 2012 to 2017.
Cabinet minister Suresh Bhardwaj recently said on the floor of the Himachal Assembly that when the Prem Kumar Dhumal-led government left power in 2012, Himachal had a debt of Rs 28,760 crore. Later, during the Congress government, this debt increased to Rs 47,906 crore, he said. In 2017, the Virbhadra Singh government had left a debt of Rs 47,906 crore in Himachal.
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Lately, the incumbent Jairam government borrowed a loan of Rs 2,500 crore in the first fortnight of September and in October, salary and arrears of employees under the revised pay scale were taken from this amount. As per officials, Rs 1,000 crore was spent in paying the first instalment of arrears to the employees. Before the Rs 2,500 crore loan, the current government had taken a loan of 16,998 crore earlier. Most of the budget in Himachal Pradesh is spent on the salaries of government employees and pensions.
Apart from this, a huge amount of the budget is also spent on repaying the loans taken and repaying the interest on the loan. According to the data, 25.31 per cent of the budget is spent on the salary of government employees while 14.11 per cent is spent on pensions. Apart from this, Himachal has to pay 10 per cent on payment of interest and 6.64 per cent on repayment of the loan.
This leaves only 43.94 per cent with the government for development work. Significantly, after the revised pay scale, the share of the budget under the salary head is set to increase further putting all the more burden on the exchequer. The Jairam government and BJP claim that the “pace of development of Himachal was not allowed to stop due to the generous financial assistance of the Centre”.
Revenue deficit grants were also being received from the Finance Commission, due to which the government's expenditure on the salaries of the employees kept coming, it said. Congress leader Mukesh Agnihotri alleged that Jai Ram Thakur has proved to be the “most expensive Chief Minister till date”. Congress has promised several freebies ahead of the Assembly elections, including Rs 1,500 a month, in the accounts of women.
Congress has not clarified where the funds for the scheme will come from. KR Bharti, former finance secretary of the state government, said that Himachal has limited financial resources of its own and has no other option but to take loans. The economy can be repaired from the tourism and agriculture sector, he said.
Apart from this, there is a need to curb government spending, he added. Senior journalist Uday Singh said that no government has taken any measures to check extravagance. The Resource Mobilisation Committee was formed during the Congress government failed to submit the report.
