Deputy chief minister Mukesh Agnihotri (L) read the report amid a charged atmosphere, while blaming the previous BJP regime for fiscal mismanagement. (PTI)
The report said Rs 92,774 crore liabilities were left behind by the Jai Ram Thakur government, resulting in every child being born with a debt of Rs 1.02 lakh as compared to Rs 66,000 crore in 2017, till the Congress was in power
With the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh presenting a white paper on the state’s finances, an acrimonious exchange was witnessed between opposition and treasury benches in the assembly after the report indicated a grim fiscal health with the state’s financial liabilities mounting to Rs 92,774 crore. The white paper was presented by deputy chief minister Mukesh Agnihotri.
Agnihotri read the report amid a charged atmosphere, while blaming the previous BJP regime for fiscal mismanagement and Himachal being ranked fifth in the country in raising loans. He said Rs 92,774 crore liabilities were left behind by the Jai Ram Thakur government, resulting in every child being born with a debt of Rs 1.02 lakh as compared to Rs 66,000 crore in 2017, till the Congress was in power.
He said Himachal Pradesh’s debt when the BJP assumed power in 2017-18 was Rs 47,906 crore and with an increase of 12 per cent (Rs 2,874 crore) it has reached Rs 76,631 crore in 2023-24. “The financial health of the state is so grim that a sum of Rs 9,048 crore would be required to repay the loan (Rs 3,486 crore) and interest component (Rs 5,262 crore) in 2023-24,” he stated.
Agnihotri was confronted with repeated interruptions by leader of opposition Jai Ram Thakur and BJP MLAs who trouped to the well of the house twice, while accusing the government of presenting false and misleading data of only the BJP tenure to get political mileage.
Agnihotri said the BJP regime has made a record of indulging in wasteful expenditure, with no focus on resource generation or fiscal prudence, making a mockery of government spending. “The BJP is harming HP’s interest as they have told the Centre to not give us funds as we implemented the old pension scheme,” he alleged. “It is after exhaustive examination of the reports of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), and the past budgets that we have come to the conclusion that it was because of the fiscal mismanagement by the previous BJP regime that today the total loan liabilities of the state have reached Rs 92,774 crore.”
The loan liability left behind by the BJP regime for 2022-23 was Rs 76,631 crores, he added.
Agnihotri alleged that the previous BJP government had misused a loan amount of Rs 16,261 crore raised in the last election year for holding party functions. “This loan amount was mis-utilised for organising functions like Amrit Mahotsav, Pragatisheel Himachal and Jan Manch for party campaigns with an eye on the assembly polls,” he remarked.
He said even now Rs 8.50 crore bills of the State Transport Corporation were pending as buses were used to ferry people for these functions used for party campaigns.
