Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said that the new Government in the State has an immediate liability of Rs10,000 crore even as he said that erstwhile Congress Government in Assam has failed to generate revenue from State’s internal resources.
Sarma placed a White Paper on Assam State Finances in the ongoing session of the Assam legislative Assembly on Friday. While terming this liability as a herculean task, Sarma said that the new Government is, however, committed to turn the situation of State finances, though it might take some time.
"The new Government has realized that the state finance is in gloom, despair and doldrums. The Cabinet also felt that its primary duty is to inform each and every citizen of the State the actual reality of the public finance as the new Government assumes office," he said.
While taking a potshot at the former Government, Sarma said that the internal resource growth in the State has reached lowest of only 1.39 percent in 2014-15.
"When I was the finance minister of the state in 2003-04 (during the Congress Government in power), the growth of State's internal resource was 25.44 percent. However, in the subsequent years the state Government has failed to generate revenue from its own resources, which has resulted in mere 1.39 per cent growth in 2014-15," he said while adding that it is not only the lowest ever in the country but lowest since the Independence of the country.
"During the last four years from 2012-13 onwards, the revenue growth was abysmal. Even before this period, there were occasions of single digit growth in 2007-08 and 2010-11 and that was the time the Government should have made serious attempts to make systematic corrections. The figures of State revenue collection speak volumes of poor governance of revenue administering departments and resultant leakages," Sarma said.
"The state, in order to attract incentive grant of mere Rs300 crore from 13th Finance Commission during 2010-2015 tried to achieve revenue surplus. This was taken on record by the subsequent commission which led to its recommendation of a very low amount of revenue deficit grant of only Rs3379 crore during 2015-20. Thus the strategy to attract an incentive grant of Rs300 crore, the State has been deprived of substantial grants during the current five year period," he said.