Govt diverting minds from state’s financial ailment: LoP

SHILLONG, Sep 9: Leader of the Opposition Mukul Sangma on Monday condemned the state government for trying to cover up the truth revealed in the CAG’s report on the fiscal health of Meghalaya.
“The CAG indicated its concern but the government is hiding the truth and is in denial mode. This is condemnable because we are all concerned about the fiscal health and the future of the state,” he told reporters here.
Referring to the government’s clarification on the CAG findings, he said, “I did not expect the government to divert the narrative and beat around the bush while trying to explain.”
He said the CAG compiles reports after a minute analysis of everything from the allocation of funds to the implementation of a programme.
Sangma said the government failed to adhere to the Meghalaya Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) of Act 2006. “The GSDP ratio and the fiscal deposit have to be synchronised,” he explained.
He likened the state’s borrowing from the Centre to a person earning Rs 50,000 per month having to pay an EMI of Rs 75,000 on a bank loan. “This is what is happening to the government that is borrowing again and again,” he said.
“You don’t expect sensible parents to borrow heavily and leave behind a huge debt for their children to repay,” he added.
Any borrowing, Sangma said, must be for investing in infrastructure that helps the government generate enough revenue to repay a significant part of the money borrowed and not push the state into a debt trap.
“The CAG report says 44% of the borrowing in the year under scrutiny was on capital expenditure. This means the remaining 56% has gone somewhere,” he said.
He said the government tried to camouflage its fiscal mismanagement but did not know how to do it.