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‘Mismanagement’ by YSRCP govt. led to huge debt, loss of revenue to State, says Naidu
Releasing a White Paper on State finances, the Chief Minister says there is a gap of ₹1.45 lakh crore between revenue and immediate essential expenditure
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu
Despite facing huge accumulated liabilities to the tune of ₹1,35,224 crore, which were to be cleared in this financial year, the NDA government was striving to put the State on the development path, said Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu.
He presented a White Paper on the status of State finances, exposing the alleged financial mismanagement of the previous YSRCP government, in the Assembly on July 26 (Friday), the last day of the session.
The accumulated liabilities included outstanding dues to vendors and schemes (₹1,13,244 crore) and to employees (₹21,980 crore), which needed to be cleared on a priority basis now, he said, adding there might more unnoticed debts. There were other structural debts too which could be cleared in due course of time.
There were 5,615 contempt cases, 3,269 writ petitions with directions, and another 16,104 writ petitions in various stages, and all these involved a government liability of ₹3,542 crore, he said.
The State lost ₹6.94 lakh crore because of reduced growth rate.Even under COVID-19 impact, the State should have got an additional revenue of ₹52,197 crore.
The additional burden on the government because of increased power cost due to short-term power purchases was estimated at ₹12,250 crore. Illegal sand mining caused a loss of ₹7,000 crore and ‘looting of mineral wealth’ ₹9,750 crore. The cancellation of contracts of the Amaravati and the Polavaram projects also caused a substantial loss to the government. Mismanagement of financial resources led to additional burden on the State finances, Mr. Naidu said.
Mortgage of assets
The YSRCP government mortgaged various government properties in Visakhapatnam — 24 acres of Government Polytechnic College land for ₹359 crore, 30 acres of dairy farm for ₹309 crore, 17 acres of ITI College for ₹270 crore, and nine acres of police quarters for ₹215 crore, being some of them. The diversion of ₹5,308 crore local body funds pushed the panchayat institutions into a financial crisis, the Chief Minister said.
The State debt rose from ₹3,75,295 crore as on March 31, 2019 to ₹9,74,556 crore by June 12, 2024. It included government debt of ₹4,38,278 crore, public account liabilities of ₹80,914 crore, debts of corporations ₹2,48,677 crore, dues for civil supplies subsidy ₹36,000 crore, dues to power sector ₹3,4267 crore, outstanding dues to vendors and schemes ₹1,13,244 crore, dues to employees ₹21,980 crore and non-contribution to sinking fund ₹1,196 crore, Mr Naidu said.
The capital expenditure in major departments was reduced from ₹60,879 crore during 2014-19, to ₹24,267 crore during 2019-24, about 60% cut, leaving Water Resources, Transportation, Roads and Buildings and other departments short of funds in the last five years.
Huge financial gap
For the current financial year, there was a gap of ₹1,46,090 crore between the revenue and essential expenditure, which includes salaries, pensions, debt servicing, welfare pensions, power subsidy, PDS subsidy, Arogyasri, diet, and anganwadi expenses. This apart, the government had to spend on the promised welfare schemes and also incur capital expenditure, he added.
The previous government diverted funds through the AP State Financial Services and the AP State Development Corporation. The seven papers released by the government would now be discussed across the State both in rural and urban areas, the Chief Minister said.
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