Income up, so why debt up: Jakhar
Thursday, 11/04/2013
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=66391&boxid=59894&uid=&dat=2013-04-10
Chandigarh : The Punjab Congress on Tuesday asked the SAD-BJP government to “publicly display the facts and expenditure that led to an increase in debt of Rs 38,109 crore on the state and Rs 69,270 crore on the public sector in the last six years despite the income of the state having enhanced manifold, as claimed by the SAD-BJP leadership at Goa”.
In a statement, Congress Legislature Party leader Sunil Jakhar said, “It’s ironical that even though the income of the state has increased, the blood of the poor was being sucked in the form of various taxes as electricity charges on urban consumers have been raised six times and recently even health services rates have been enhanced. In the name of VAT, traders are being harassed unnecessarily.”
“Under a conspiracy, the SAD-BJP government was diverting the various grants issued by the Congress-led UPA government for public welfare and their tall claims of increase in state exchequer are all away from reality,” he alleged.
Jakhar claimed that an expenditure of a mere 20 per cent out of Rs 4,037 crore kept in the sub-plan for the welfare of Dalits in the state spoke of the dilapidated economic condition of the state.
“Instead of relishing the five-star facilities in Goa, the SAD-BJP government should do ‘chintan’ that despite a 400 per cent rise in their income, what compelled them to enhance the rates of health services, besides imposing fees on poor children?” the Leader of the Opposition asserted.
He also demanded that the government should come out with measures to ensure development of Dailts and the poor, re-establish the industry and free the traders from the ‘Inspector Raj’.
