Himachal heading towards financial emergency, courtesy irresponsible governance: Vipin Parmar
Says Congress government can raise a maximum of Rs 10,000 crore as fresh loan this year, while it needs around Rs 13,000 crore to repay old loans and interest
Sullah MLA Vipin Singh Parmar said here today that the state was rapidly heading towards an economic emergency due to “financial mismanagement, false guarantees and irresponsible governance”.
Parmar, while addressing mediapersons at Palampur, said that the Finance Department had exposed the much-hyped promises of “reforms” and “guarantees” made by the Congress before coming to power. He claimed that an internal financial presentation of the department amounted to an “official admission” of the government’s economic failure.
Parmar said, “This is not a political allegation levelled by the Opposition. This is the Congress government’s own confession of economic bankruptcy. The Finance Department’s presentation is the most dangerous and concrete document showing how Himachal has been systematically pushed into a financial abyss.”
He quoted figures from the Finance Department and said that the state government had virtually accepted that it was no longer in a position to meet its basic financial commitments. He warned that the state had fallen into a dangerous debt cycle. He said that the government could raise a maximum of Rs 10,000 crore as fresh loans this year, while it needed around Rs 13,000 crore to repay old loans and interest.
Parmar accused the Congress of announcing guarantees in the Assembly elections without resources, financial planning or long-term vision. “Today, government employees are anxious about their future, pensioners are angry and worried, development works are at a standstill and Central Government schemes are slipping out of the state’s hands,” he added.
He warned that if the current trend continued, the state could face severe social unrest, employee and pensioner agitations, long-term development setbacks, loss of investment and employment opportunities, and erosion of the state’s credibility at the national level. He added that time had come for the government to cut its administrative and capital expenditure by downsizing its infrastructure.
