Debt, deficit catchwords of Budget: Amarinder

Thursday, 19/03/2015

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Chandigarh : Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday criticised the Punjab Budget saying, “the only recurring theme of the budget is debt and deficit both of which are multiplying at an alarming proportion”.

“With the state debt mounting to a humungous figure of Rs 1.25 lakh crore and revenue deficit crossing Rs 6,000 crore one can hardly expect anything else from this budget”, he remarked.

Reacting to the Budget presented by the Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa to the Vidhan Sabha, Capt Amarinder maintained that it is the most uninspiring budget with no hope or scope of any redemption and the state government appears to have resigned to the fait accompli by not attempting any remedial measures to redeem the situation.

The former Chief Minister questioned the very sincerity of the government in making Budget proposals when the state was virtually bankrupt with so much debt and deficit. “Where are the resources for the alluring promises you have made in the Budget?” he asked.

Cap Amarinder ridiculed the Finance Minister’s opening reference that “the world is upbeat about India as her economy has entered a promising era with a series of economic reforms ushered in by the NDA Government at the Centre”. He said, the Finance Minister would have done better by talking about Punjab than glorifying the imagined forecasts of the IMF and the World Bank about Indian economy which otherwise also are in no way based on ground reality.

Taking a dig at the Finance Minister’s claims about “the success made by the state in achieving fiscal consolidation,” Cap Amarinder taunted the government saying, “people of Punjab must indeed be so much pleased at the outstanding achievement of this government that the debt-GDP ratio has come down to 32 per cent”. He said, there can be no worse defeatist self consolation than this. The former Chief Minister ridiculed the government for trying to sell the Central schemes as its own.

He pointed out the schemes like the National Horticulture Mission, National Food Security Mission, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid-Day Meal, Rashtriya Madhyamik Sikhsha Abhiyan (RMSA) programme, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Campaign, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, to name just a few were all Central schemes and the state was unduly trying these to be its own in the Budget.