CHANDIGARH, Punjab—The Akali Dal-BJP government still has a debt of over Rs 1.25 lakh crore ($18.7 Billion USD) and has finding it hard to pay salaries to its staff. Surprisingly, the Punjab government claimed in a statement today that state finances were sound.
The Aam Aadmi Party said the present Badal government has steered Punjab towards complete bankruptcy and the situation has worsened exponentially over the last ten years. Sucha Singh Chhotepur said while the wealth of the Badal family had increased manyfold in the past few years, small to medium businesses have been bullied to closure.
“A huge number of business units have shifted their base to other states because of interference of the Badals,” he said, adding that the government did not have enough funds to run its daily affairs and the salaries of its had been stalled for many months.
Leaders of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee has sought the imposition of ‘financial emergency’ in Punjab. They blamed the Badal party of using state resources to keep their regime alive.
In a press note shared with Sikh24, Senior leader Partap Singh Bajwa and Bibi Rajinder Kaur Bhattal have alleged that the Badal’s were selling government property to remain in power.
It is noteworthy that the appointment of a 6th Pay commission by Akali government has sparked a sharp debate over financial crisis of Punjab. Punjab is current under debt worth Rs. 124000/- Crore and the government is close to being declared insolvent. The government is regularly selling state property to manage its expenditures.
Jails and widow homes have been remortgaged to raise 2.1 million rupees to help refill an emptied treasury over the last two years.