Hill state nearing financial emergency: Jai Ram
Called the Budget boring and meaningless
Calling the Budget boring and meaningless, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said the state was heading towards financial emergency. “The government has deferred a certain percentage of the salaries of the ministers, legislators and government officials for six months. Salaries can’t be cut until there is a financial emergency. The deferment, therefore, could be seen as a stage just before the financial emergency,” said Thakur.
The LoP also took a dig at the government for presenting a Budget that is smaller in size than the one presented last year. “The Budget is around Rs 3,500 crore smaller than the previous Budget. I have seen 29 Budget presented in this Vidhan Sabha and all had been bigger than the previous ones. It shows the state is heading towards tough time,” he said.
Thakur further said the fiscal deficit was continuously on the rise and the funds for capital expenditure had been dropping sharply. “For the first time, we’ve less than Rs 20 out of Rs 100 left for capital expenditure in the state. It shows development has come to a complete halt,” said Thakur. The LoP further said the CM spoke for over four hours, but there was hardly anything meaningful in the Budget.
