Reacting strongly to the Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat’s statement that he has inherited a humongous loan to the tune of Rs 43000 crore from his predecessor as a heritage, the former Chief Minister Harish Rawat said on Saturday that BJP was responsible for the loan amount having assumed such gigantic proportions. “I want to remind them that when the Congress- led Uttarakhand Government relinquished the rein of the State in 2008 the loan stood at around Rs 12000 crore. However, when Congress returned to power in 2012 the loan amount spiraled to staggering Rs 37000 crore. It means that the BJP leaders who are now in the saddle of power landed the State in the mess. Besides, the loans the State received from the World Bank in the aftermath of the 2013 disaster should not be included in the figure. The ruling party is now trying to exaggerate things by including that amount too in the figure it is dishing out to reflect the previous Government in a bad light,” he said.
“As per the norms, the State Government can take loan up to three percent of its GDP. The limit was never crossed during the Congress regime. We maintained consistency and the salary disbursement and payment on other heads were not delayed a bit. This was possible because of the sound fiscal management. State per capita income, GDP and other indicators ascertain our claim that the State is on the rising developmental graph,” Harish Rawat said.
Commenting on the BJP Government’s decisions regarding mining and liquor, closed after the Supreme Court order, Rawat said that they are taking the same stance the Congress government took. “However, when they were in the opposition they pilloried our Government on the same,” he said.
Taking a dig at the State Government’s move to de-notify the State highways to have them converted into district roads, the former Chief Minister said that the Government should have taken people into confidence before taking the move. “Besides, while it might manage to spare the owners of the liquor vends the trouble of relocation it would prove difficult for the government to maintain the roads due to fund crunch. The works on the national highways would also be delayed,” he said.
Daring the ruling party to scrap the agreement for purchase of power his Government had signed, Harish Rawat said that instead of slamming the predecessor Government, they should go for action.
He reiterated that the decisions his Government had taken during the time it ruled the State had been taken in the best interests of the State.