The Congress government in Himachal Pradesh on September 21 blamed the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for making the hill State ‘debt stressed’ and the prevailing grim financial situation.
The Congress government tabled a ‘white paper’ on the State finances in the State Assembly during the ongoing monsoon session. The paper held the BJP-led Central Government equally responsible for the State’s economic mess and added that the State has landed into a poor fiscal position due to shortsightedness and ineffective policies of the previous government during the last five years.
“The previous BJP Government relied on borrowings as the main source of funds instead of making efforts for resource mobilisation. During its five-year period, the previous State government incurred wasteful expenditure as even party programmes were funded from the State exchequer. Huge amounts were spent on the celebration of events such ‘Amrit Mahotsav’, ‘Pragtisheel Himachal: Sthapna ke 75 Varsh’ and ‘Jan Manch’, which were used as a tool to publicise previous government’s party programmes, prior to the 2022 Assembly election,” said the paper.
