Leader of Opposition in the Haryana Assembly and former Chief Minister Bhupendra Singh Hooda on Tuesday questioned the fiscal management of the State, saying the official data indicated that Haryana was being pushed into a deep debt trap by the ruling BJP-JJP government.
“We demand that the government issue a White Paper on the increasing debt, which has reached ₹1.81 lakh crore and tell the State where all this money has been spent. When the BJP came to power in 2014 , it had raised a massive hue and cry on the debts taken by the previous governments,” said Mr. Hooda, talking to journalists.
“Haryana was earlier counted among the rich States, today it is in the list of States in deep debt. The proportion of total government expenditure on loan and interest payments is increasing due to rising debt. In 2016-17 , 18.51 % of the total debt was used to repay the debt, which has now increased to 28.61 %. The government is walking the dangerous road of partying with borrowed money,” he said.
The former Chief Minister said the government should come up with a time-bound plan to control the ever-increasing revenue deficit and cut fiscal deficit. Comparing the fiscal discipline during his term, Mr. Hooda said the fiscal deficit was 2.07% during his term in 2013-14 but has increased to 2.82% in 2019-20 . Similarly, the revenue deficit which was only 0.97% in 2013-14 has increased to 1.76% in 2019-20 .
‘Compensate farmers’
Mr. Hooda added that farmers in the State were falling into a debt trap due to the government’s indifference. “The government should compensate the damage caused by hailstorms and unseasonal rain at the earliest. The government should assess the loss suffered by farmers and compensate them by output and MSP of crops, not by the size of the landholdings as the farmers have lost standing crops,” he said.
