By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 19 Mar: Leader of the Opposition Yashpal Arya said today that in the budget session convened at Gairsain, the Congress tried to raise every question of public importance in the short time available, but the government proved to be insensitive and inexperienced in every matter. The government is powerless before the state bureaucracy.
The Congress raised issues during Question Hour, through adjournment motions, general discussion on the budget and other accepted rules. These included questions about the copying mafia, restoration of the old pension scheme, the disasters in Joshimath and other places of the state, etc. On all these issues, the government avoided giving direct answers.
After the adjournment of the budget session, the Leader of the Opposition, while addressing the press at the Vidhan Sabha along with other Congress MLAs, said that due to the short duration of the session, scams of many other departments and many other important questions related to the public could not be discussed. He alleged, “Due to the wrong answers of the government, and its insensitivity, many parliamentary traditions have also been destroyed.”
Arya said that, this time, the people of the state had hoped that the session would go on for the required amount of time, but the government adjourned the session indefinitely two days before even the earlier declared period, proving that the it has no interest in solving the big questions of the people through the legislature.
He said that, even after getting the approval for the bill on reservation for statehood agitationists from the cabinet in Gairsain, the government did not place it on the table of the House. Nor did the private member’s bill of Congress MLA Anupama Rawat on this subject find mention. This was a mockery of the statehood agitators.
The Leader of the Opposition claimed that there are hundreds of such subjects in the state waiting to become law but, despite this, the government is talking about not having business to run the assembly session. This proved that the BJP has no interest in functioning under the parliamentary system of governance from the Centre to the states.
Arya described the budget of 2023-24 as directionless presented by an incompetent government. He said it would not be an exaggeration to say the budget is directionless, regressive, growth-obstructing and inflation-increasing and against the interests of the people. In the general budget, only empty announcements have been made, but there is no mention of where the money will come from.
The Leader of the Opposition said that the government has estimated borrowings to be of Rs 19, 460 crore in this financial year in the budget. After the BJP government came to power in 2017, the government borrowings in seven years amounts to Rs 99, 749 crore. Expressing surprise, he said that, in 17 years after the formation of the state till 2017, all the governments borrowed only Rs 35,000 crore, but after 2017, in the 7 years of the BJP governments, Rs 1 lakh crore worth of debt had piled up. The government did not even answer the question of the opposition on how much debt there is today. He said the figures are witness that, even after repaying some of the loans taken in 22 years and paying interest, the state will still have a debt of more than Rs 1.2 lakh crores.
He said that the government was asked about the productivity in the state with the loans taken in 7 years? How many new jobs were created? Which public welfare scheme was run? The government did not give any answer to these questions.
He alleged complete lack of financial management in this budget, which contained nothing but empty announcements. Uttarakhand, he claimed, had crossed the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM) limit of keeping the debt and liability up to 25 percent of the total gross domestic product i.e. GSDP in 2019-2020 itself. He said that by the end of this financial year, the government’s outstanding liabilities would be 28.2 percent of GSDP, which is 3.2 percent more than the danger signal.
Arya pointed out that the MLAs of the Congress expressed concern that the government is spending a large part of its annual budget in the form of paying old loans and interest on them. In this year’s budget, out of the budget of Rs 77,000 crores, the government would spend an estimated Rs 17,388 crore, about 15 percent, only in paying old loans and interest. What would remain for spending on education, roads, health, etc.?
After spending Rs 50,000 crores on loan repayment, interest payment, salary, pension, etc., how would the government fulfill the aspirations of the people of the state on development, social responsibilities and job creation?
He alleged that due to non-availability of funds, no special attention has been paid to women, unemployed youth, scheduled castes and tribes in the budget.
He said that the Union Budget had also disappointed the farmers and villagers this year. Now, the BJP government of the state had also done the same. Are farmers getting the right price for their crops? Diesel, petrol, pesticides, fertilizers, seeds have all become expensive.
Arya alleged that no f package was made available in the budget for investment or industry. Without investment and new industries, employment opportunities in the private sector would also not increase. There is also nothing special in the budget to stop migration from hill areas.
MLAs Pritam Singh, Furkan Ahmed, Mamta Rakesh, Anupama Rawat, Virendra Jati, Ravi Bahadur, State Congress media in-charge Rajeev Meharishi were present at the press conference.
