CAG report vindicates Cong. stand: YSR

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, APRIL 8. Alleging financial mismanagement by the State Government as reflected in the latest Comptroller and Auditor- General's (CAG) report, the Congress(I) Legislature Party leader, Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, on Sunday, said it had no moral right and ethical authority to continue in power.

Addressing a press conference, Dr. Reddy accused the Government of failure on all fronts and said its continuation would spell a deathknell to the people of the State, who were already reeling under heavy debts, taxation and a very high power tariff, reflecting its inefficiency. "In fact, every new baby born in the State will carry a debt burden of Rs.6,481", he said.

Asked specifically if he was seeking the Government's resignation, he said, he left the decision to its good sense and quipped, "You know we do not have enough strength in the Assembly".

Dr. Reddy said the CAG report had vindicated his party's stand held all along that the financial position has deteriorated during the last five years and went on to describe it as "the most damning CAG report in the 53-year history of the State". The asset-liability ratio which indicated the solvency of the State will go down to 0.53:1 as on March 2002 compared to 1.01:1 on March 1994, the last completed financial year under the Congress rule.

The CLP leader said a perusal of CAG reports on different States shows that while Andhra Pradesh had registered the highest growth rate in revenue receipts over the five years from 1994 to 1999, it has also been suffering a huge revenue deficit, "reflecting a complete mismanagement of finances".

During these five years, while Andhra Pradesh's revenue receipts was Rs.57,369 crores, Bihar's was Rs.40,872 crores. Yet, AP's revenue deficit was Rs.8,050 crores, while that of Bihar, Rs.6,020 crores or Rs.2,030 crores less. He went on to compare AP with West Bengal, but was not very convincing. West Bengal's revenue receipts and revenue deficit stood at Rs.40,882 crores and Rs.11,300 crores respectively, he said and attributed the lesser revenue receipts compared to AP, to pro-people policies taken up in the former and very high taxation in the latter.

Owing to lesser sales tax, petrol and diesel costs less by Rs.2.50 a litre in West Bengal compared to AP. Registration and stamp duty too was less by six per cent and all brands of liquor were 30 per cent lower in the former.

Referring to the decline in revenue and fiscal deficits during the current year, after a steady rise from 1995-2000, he quoted CAG report to point out that the State Government has resorted to partial freezing of expenditure of Rs.3,035 crores pertaining to water supply, sanitation, housing and urban development under social services, rural development under economic services and financial assistance to local bodies and other institutions. The Government has also benefited from the increased allocation of grants in aid (Rs.568 crores) from the Union Government. Otherwise, it would have suffered Rs.4,250 crores of revenue deficit, a serious enough concern for the people of the State.

Dr. Reddy said the Government was resorting to external borrowings, ostensibly for creation of assets but used it for meeting the huge revenue deficits, year after year. The budget documents for 2001-02, clearly showed that liabilities of the Government as on March 31, 2002, will be Rs.49,000 crores, with an accretion of Rs.36,000 crores, exclusively during the TDP rule. The sad state of affairs is that half of Rs.36,000 crores loans was being used for meeting the revenue deficit and only half of it for creation of capital assets.

The CAG has also expressed concern at the growing quantum of guarantees issued by the Government, touching 80 per cent of the revenue receipts in 1999-2000, indicating a high risk exposure. He said the CAG report had also nailed the tall claims of the Government about its performance in power, agriculture and industrial sectors. While during the Congress regime from 1989 to 1994, the then APSEB earned an operating surplus of Rs.226 crores, it suffered an unprecedented operating deficit of Rs.9,315 crores for the period 1994-2000.

Dr. Reddy also accused the Government of shying away from placing the CAG report in the Assembly. Though it was received on March 13, it was placed on the table of the Assembly on March 31, the last day of the session.

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Section  : Southern States
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