Antony demands White Paper on State finance

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, DEC. 1. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. A.K. Antony, today demanded a White Paper on the financial crisis the State is facing.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Antony said the LDF Government would complete its term of office in a few months after pushing Kerala into a major financial collapse, from which the State would find it difficult to outlast.

"In a short span of four years, the LDF Government had mounted a debt which was more than two times the sum of the State's debt over four decades. The UDF vacated office in 1996 with a surplus of Rs. 481 crores, with the total debt for the four decades together put at Rs. 10,113.54 crores. At the end of four years, this had gone up to Rs. 20,595.12 crores (as on March 31, 2000) and is expected to peak at Rs. 25,000 crores. It is significant that the LDF Government had failed to ensure agricultural and industrial progress, expand the basic infrastructure facilities, and improve the quality of life of the people commensurate to the huge debt it has mounted. The LDF Government had made the State bankrupt," he said.

He alleged that the LDF Government's inefficiency, corruption, ostentatiousness, and financial mismanagement were responsible for this sorry state of affairs. Quoting official figures, he said the LDF Government had failed to boost the State's revenue. At the same time, its revenue deficit had gone up to Rs. 2,481.33 crores in March 2000, as against the Rs. 402.81 crores in 19996. He accused the LDF Government of being indifferent to collection of revenue. It had no qualms in handing out a Rs. 308-crore largesse to appease the liquor barons.

Mr. Antony said the per capita debt, according to the figures tabled by the State Government in the Assembly, was Rs. 7,360. Over and above the debt, the State Government had to pay Rs. 1,000 crores as arrears to the Government contractors. It was yet to pay up farm labour pension (Rs. 52.75 crores) and unemployment dole (Rs. 54 crores), not to mention widow pension, handicapped pension etc.

The State Government had mobilised Rs. 1,400 crores from the cooperative institutions as treasury deposits, thereby pushing the cooperative sector into the abyss of a financial crisis. The Government had misutilised this amount which was actually meant to be advanced to the agriculture and other productive sectors. It had also misappropriated Rs. 507 crores mobilised under its investment bonds scheme and Rs. 244 crores under the industrial revival fund to meet its ways and means requirements, he said.

The Government had to pay up Rs. 350 crores towards payment of pension amounts to various categories. It had also taken an additional commitment of paying up Rs. 400 crores towards payment of salaries to the newly recruited higher secondary school teachers. In addition to all these, the Government would have to shell out Rs. 660 crores for meeting the salary bill covering two months in December, he said.

Mr. Antony pointed out that the State Government had failed to mobilise the necessary funds even after the annual Plan size was cut. It would require an estimated Rs. 1,800 crores to implement the Plan schemes, he said. The State would thus require a total of Rs. 6,700 crores to meet its commitments during this year. It had also drawn an overdraft of Rs. 630.73 crores on six occasions between January to June this year, Mr. Antony said.

The following are the figures furnished by him regarding the State Government's commitments:

Arrears to contractors Rs. 1,000 crores, Agriculture pension Rs. 52.75 crores, unemployment dole Rs. 54 crores, treasury deposits from cooperative institutions Rs. 1146.92 crores, National Savings Certificate from the cooperative sector Rs. 250 crores, infrastructure development bonds Rs. 507 crores, Industrial Development Bonds Rs. 224 crores, the total expenditure for implementing the higher secondary system Rs. 400 crores, the annual dearness allowance for Government employees Rs. 291 crores, pension arrears for various categories Rs. 350 crores, two months salary bills to be paid in December Rs. 660 crores and additional burden on revenue mobilised for implementing annual Plan schemes Rs. 1,800 crores.

Development work

The People's Plan Campaign has been virtually grounded, with the local bodies finding it difficult to get Government cheques cleared from the treasury. The Government was finding it difficult to even meet its commitment from the Chief Minister' Relief Fund due to various category of people. "If the defaulter had been a private individual, he would have been sent to jail by now," Mr. Antony said.

Responding to questions, he said the remarks of the Mr. Nayanar and the CPI(M) State secretary, Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan, about journalists in the State capital being stooges of the CIA were yet another reflection of the CPI(M)'s intolerance. "All political parties should be prepared to face criticism in a democracy. Mr. Vijayan and the Chief Minister should disclose who these CIA agents are. If not, they should show the moral courage to apologise for their remarks which virtually insulted the entire journalist community in the State," he said.

In reply to a question, he said it was ironical that such remarks should be made by leaders of a party which had the habit of receiving huge funds from the erstwhile USSR and China.

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