Govt using MC route for funds, says Capt
Thursday, 01/09/2011
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Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday accused the Akali-BJP government of pressuring market committees in the state to borrow money from banks to finance various projects, including ‘sangat darshan’ programmes of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
Refused loan by various financial institutions, the state government has now asked about 145-odd market committees in Punjab to raise loans of Rs 5-10 crore from banks that would be repayable in the next five years, Capt Amarinder said in a press statement here.
While the smaller market committees had been asked to borrow Rs 5 crore each, the bigger ones had been asked to borrow Rs 10 crores each, the Congress leader claimed and added that the local bodies would not be allowed to retain the money for their own use. It would be at the disposal of the state government which needed funds desperately, he alleged.
The PCC president said that the intentions of this government were obvious: “to keep on borrowing and put the burden on the next government”.
He pointed out that since the government had lost both the capacity and the credibility since everybody knew that it was not in a position to repay loans, it was now bypassing the system and forcing market committees to borrow money.