CHANDIGARH: The Congress and the SAD-BJP alliance, who ruled Punjab after the militancy period, have blamed Rs 5,800 crore special term loan taken between 1984-85 and 1993-94 to fight militancy for bleeding the state exchequer.
The state finance department records reveal that the central government had waived off the principal amount of the term loan amounting to Rs 5,026 crore in 2006. But the state government had to bear the burden of Rs 2,694 crore as it had already repaid the principal amount of Rs 771 crore and the interest component of Rs 1,923 crore till then.