Congress Seeks White Paper On Punjab’s Financial Situation

Chandigarh: Punjab Congress on Thursday demanded a White Paper on the state of finances in the state in view of the mounting debt that has crossed the Rs 4 lakh crores “redline” and is projected to reach Rs 4.17 lakh crore by the end of this fiscal.

Reacting to the ``mammoth debt burden'' that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has incurred on the state, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring alleged while all previous governments during the last three decades have borrowed, the current government has borrowed it ``with wanton greed without caring for the future of the state''.

He said, while the previous governments accumulated Rs 3 lakh crores debt in thirty years, the AAP added over Rs 1 lakh crores to the state debt in just four years and that too mostly for unproductive purposes. He pointed out, there was not a single infrastructure development project launched during the last four years.

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Warring said this was quite contrary to the claims of fiscal prudence and revenue generation promised by the AAP leadership. Now the situation is such that the state government has to take out a loan to pay the interest on the existing loans.

Noting that despite such a precarious financial situation in the state, he said, the AAP was splurging money on non-productive extravagance like advertisements, hoardings and banners and painting of the government assets.