Chandigarh: Senior congress leader & Punjab’s Leader of the Opposition (LoP), Partap Singh Bajwa on Friday expressed concern over the dwindling economy and deteriorating fiscal health of the state.
Bajwa said the revelations made by the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) on the fiscal health of Punjab were indeed startling and a cause of deep concern.
“ Contrary to the tall claims made by Bhagwant Mann saying the economy of the state has improved considerably ever since his party formed the government, the CAG has completely exposed the state government on this front”, added Bajwa.
Bajwa said the Bhagwant Mann government borrowed nearly 50% of the targeted loan amounting to Rs. 11,464 crore in the first six months just to pay the interest on the outstanding debt. In the same period the previous congress government borrowed Rs. 9,779.76 crores.
Bajwa said while the revenue collection of the Bhagwant Mann government was shrinking, its expenditure was increasing everyday. As per CAG report there was already a revenue deficit of Rs. 8703.32 crore in the first six months.
Bajwa said even the sales tax collections have gone down while the revenue generated through the stamp duty was also showing a downward slide. “ With the registration of residential and commercial properties nearly coming to a standstill the revenue generated through the stamp duty has also been abysmally low”, added Bajwa.
Bajwa said flying everyday to either Himachal Pradesh or Gujarat on the orders of Arvind Kejriwal does not behove good for the state of Punjab whose economy is reeling under stress.
“ It is time for Bhagwant Mann to sit down with the economists, technocrats and bureaucrats to ponder over the strategy to pull out Punjab from the fiscal crisis”, said Bajwa.
On Arvind Kejriwal’s demand from the union government that images of Hindu Gods and Goddesses be inscribed on the currency notes to improve the economy Bajwa said the thoughtless and ridiculous idea was first mooted by BJP’s Subhramanian Swamy in 2020.“ Kejriwal just copied it without applying his own mind”, added Bajwa.