Bengaluru: Implementation of popular programmes out of the budget and poor show in revenue collection for such projects have proved out to be a costly affair for the State government, as the debt of the state may cross Rs 2.50 lakh crores by the end of the current financial year.
If the debt increases, as per the estimation, every citizen of the state will have more than Rs 38,000 debt on his/her head. During his budget for the financial year 2017-18, CM Siddaramaiah mentioned about Rs 1,44, 892 crore revenue collection along with debt of 37,092 crores. But, with a crash in revenue collection and increased expenditure, the amount of debt is expected to raise to Rs 45,000 crores.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has decided to extend Anila Bhagya Yojane and Indira Canteens across the state and has also declared many popular programmes. So, the government has to provide enough funds for these programmes, except from the earmarked sum in the budget. As the government waived farmer loans up to Rs 50,000, it cost around Rs 8,165 crores to the treasury. Since this was not mentioned in the budget, it is an additional fund. Already Rs 2,999 crore has been provided through the supplementary budget, but it needs Rs 5,166 crore more.
In January 2018, the sixth pay commission will give a report on government workers’ payment. If the pay hike is implemented as per the report, it would add crores more to the budget. If the government wants to balance the present economic status with future expenses, it has to cut the aides for various departments. This would affect the upcoming Assembly elections. Hence, the only option left before the government is to take a loan and fund the projects.
However, the amount of debt will be near 20% of the total internal production, which is within the 25% of the internal production as per the Financial Accountability Act. So, there is no question of financial irregularity, said an official.
Debt: more and more…
2013: when Congress came into power- Rs.1.12 lakh crores
2013-14 end -Rs. 1.36 lakh crores
2014-15 end- Rs. 1.55 lakh crores
2015-16 end- Rs. 1.80 lakh crores
2016-17 end- Rs. 2.05 lakh crores
2017- 18 end (expected)- Rs. 2.42 lakh crores
