GUWAHATI, Dec 9: Former Rajya Sabha MP and senior Congress leader Ripun Bora on Tuesday accused the Assam government of “blatantly violating” financial rules in its capital expenditure.
Addressing mediapersons at Rajiv Bhawan here, Bora, citing the CAG report, said that after examining the accounts of the latest financial year, CAG in its report mentions that while loans are meant for productive works — “loan for investment, not for consumption”, the Assam government has taken loans and used them for consumption-oriented activities, particularly in distributing beneficiary schemes.
Highlighting serious lapses and irregularities in the state’s financial management, Bora said the state government has not adhered to financial discipline.
According to the CAG report, against the allocated budget of Rs 1,69,966 crore for the year 2023–24, the actual expenditure was only Rs 1,39,449 crore.
“Despite this, the state government claimed to have saved Rs 30,516 crore. However, the total revenue collected that year was only Rs 1,38,830 crore, implying that the so-called savings do not actually exist, as clearly stated in the report,” the Congress leader said.
“Additionally, 50 government departments have not submitted utilisation certificates amounting to nearly Rs 18,669 crore, which is a clear violation of financial rules. Important departments such as finance, education and social welfare are among them. Keeping thousands of crores of rupees outside proper accounting procedures exposes clear instances of misuse of public funds,” Bora said.
He further highlighted alarming projections regarding the state’s debt. “At the current pace, Assam’s total debt is estimated to reach Rs 1,74,000 crore by March 31, 2026. Almost 99 percent of this debt will have to be repaid — with interest — within the next ten years, which may force future tax hikes or major cuts in developmental expenditure,” he added.
Compared to 2019-20, the state’s debt in 2023-24 has increased by 103 percent, reaching Rs 1,46,927 crore, Bora said, adding that the burden of interest payments has also risen sharply — from Rs 2,963 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 9,467 crore in 2023-24.
“The report states that the actual requirement for the supplementary budget of Rs 30,210 crore taken in 2023–24 was only 74 percent. Moreover, between 2021 and 2024, 65 percent of the loans taken by the government were spent on various beneficiary schemes and grants — a clear violation of the principle of ‘loan for investment, not for consumption’,” he claimed.
Bora revealed several other worrying aspects. “The accounts of 75 autonomous councils and development boards and 39 state enterprises have still not been submitted. While crucial sectors such as education and health saw expenditure reductions of 17.70 percent and 5.21 percent respectively, an additional Rs 2,172 crore was spent outside the budget under the pretext of loan repayment,” he said.
Terming these findings as a warning for Assam’s future, the Congress leader urged the state government to maintain transparency and accountability.
