Congress accuses Modi government of ‘unprecedented fiscal mismanagement’ in J&K
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh asks why Union Finance Minister is being ‘benevolent’ towards Andhra Pradesh and Bihar but not to the Union Territory
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the Monsoon session of Parliament, in New Delhi, on July 26, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Congress on July 26 accused the Narendra Modi government of “unprecedented fiscal mismanagement” in Jammu and Kashmir.
Also read | Budget 2024: Over ₹42,000 crore allocated to J&K; ₹2.19 lakh crore to Home Ministry
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, in a statement, asked why Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was “benevolent” towards Andhra Pradesh and Bihar but not to the Union Territory.
Our statement on the Jammu and Kashmir Budget presented in Parliament on the 23rd of July pic.twitter.com/CKBPEV486C
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) July 26, 2024
The statement comes just days after Ms. Sitharaman presented the Budget for the Union Territory of J&K.
“The present Finance Minister has the dubious distinction of being the only Finance Minister of India who has presented six State Budgets, since the Union government has refused to hold Assembly elections since the dissolution of the J&K Legislative Assembly in November 2018,” Mr. Ramesh said.
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“It is our sincere hope that the next J&K Budget is presented in the J&K legislature, by an elected Finance Minister, and discussed by legislators elected by the people of J&K,” he added.
The Congress leader claimed that the Budget document revealed “astonishing details”.
“The FM got approval from Parliament to borrow ₹12,000 crore last year. This year, Budget documents reveal that the actual borrowings were twice the amount, at ₹24,000 crore. Borrowings have risen five-fold in the last two years. This is unprecedented fiscal mismanagement,” Mr. Ramesh asserted.
He said Ms. Sitharaman had promised to raise ₹7,800 crore in Additional Resource Mobilisation (ARM) last year but managed to raise only ₹1,000 crore.
“The fiscal deficit which was pegged at 1.6% has turned out to be 5.36% in FY24 – more than three times the original estimate. Capex has been slashed by 10%. Meanwhile, under the Union government’s tutelage, the share of J&K in national GDP has declined from 0.9% in 2015-16 to 0.8% in 2022-23,” Mr. Ramesh said.
The Congress leader asked how the “grim reality” of the J&K’s finances square up with the tax/GDP ratio increasing from 5% to 8% in three years. “Are the people of J&K being subject to heavy taxation without any corresponding increase in their welfare,” he asked.
Comparing the unemployment rate in J&K (17%) in February 2023 with that of Andhra Pradesh (6.6%) and Bihar (12.3%), he asked, “Why has the FM chosen to be benevolent to A.P. and Bihar, but not to J&K?”
Mr. Ramesh said the most “worrying development” is the Finance Minister’s announcement that “the Union government has agreed to take the entire burden of the Budget of police in J&K by spending ₹12,000 crore”.
“This was earlier being done by the Union government as part of the Security Reimbursement Expenditure (SRE), since the onset of militancy in the early 1990s. When this is not a unique, new financial obligation, why has it been repackaged from a ‘reimbursement’,” he said.
“Does it reflect the government’s intention to rule the State from Delhi in perpetuity by retaining the Home Affairs of J&K with the Union government? Will the FM commit in the House that taking over police salary liability is not a Trojan horse – and that when J&K is upgraded back to being a State, the police and security matters will continue to be with the State?” the Congress general secretary asked.
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Jammu and Kashmir
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budgets and budgeting
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