SAD accuses AAP Govt of pushing Punjab towards financial emergency

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was pushing Punjab towards a financial emergency by taking unsustainable debt, bankrupting Boards like GMADA by borrowing money from them, misusing central funds and terrorising the trade and industry through raids and forced penalties.

Addressing a press conference here, senior SAD leader N K Sharma said the State’s debt had increased to a maximum permissible limit of Rs 4.25 lakh crore and would reach Rs 5 lakh crore by the end of the government’s tenure in the State. Asserting that this would result in a debt to GSDP ratio of more than 50 per cent, he said besides being declared bankrupt, the State would not be able to even pay salaries to its employees.

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Stating that Punjab was also feeling the effects of a bankrupt economy, Mr N K Sharma said all social welfare benefits like Aata Dal, Shagun, pensions, SC scholarship, Teerath Yatra, free medicines, cycles and sports kit had been halted. He said even money collected from government employees as well as the public under the Chardhi Kala fund had not been used for flood relief or any other public cause.

Sharma said the AAP government was also destroying institutions like GMADA by appropriating their funds. “The government has taken Rs 12,000 crore from GMADA but has no road map on how the funds will be used to strengthen infrastructure or any other allied activity. Similarly, it has used Rs 12,000 crore from the State Disaster Relief fund deposited with it by the central government. This money has been used on advertisements and publicity stunts”.

The SAD leader also debunked the government’s propaganda that it was suffering due to the mistakes of earlier governments. “He said against a total loan of Rs 1.38 lakh crore in 2017 at the end of the SAD government’s tenure, the debt went up to Rs 2.08 lakh crore during the Congress tenure and was now Rs 4.25 lakh crore.”

He said,”The earlier SAD government had built a power infrastructure by establishing new thermal plants and increasing power transmission by 8,000 circuit km. It also built airports and 90,000 kilometres of roads. In direct contrast, the AAP government has failed to add even one unit of power in the State in the last four years.”

He said only repair work of roads had been taken up, for which inflated tenders smacking of rampant corruption had been issued. Even for this, a loan of Rs 129 crore has been secured from Market Committees to give credit for the work to the chief minister,” he added.

Speaking about the state of the industry and its migration from Punjab, Sharma said trade and industry were suffering from extortion both from gangsters and the State government. He said ETOs had been given targets to raid five industrial premises every month to collect a minimum penalty of Rs 8 lakh. “Power in Mandi Gobindgarh costs Rs 9 to Rs 10 per unit, while it is Rs 5 per unit in Baddi. Why will the industry remain in Punjab in such circumstances?” he asked.

Sharma also detailed how religious tourism, which had increased from a footfall of five lakh foreign tourists during the start of the SAD government to ten lakh foreign tourists by the end of it, had again gone back to a figure of five lakh. “The AAP government has not put up a single board to promote tourism in Punjab but has pasted the Chief Minister’s advertisements across all airports in the country,” Sharma added.