BHOPAL: Day after the end of the budget session of the state assembly, LOP Kamal Nath on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government claiming that it has completely failed to bring economic development and has no financial policy. In a statement, the senior Congress leader alleged, “Madhya Pradesh is getting submerged day by day in the quagmire of debt. The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government has completely failed on the economic front.”
He said people hoped the government would present a roadmap in the budget session to bring the economy back on track. “But after the end of the budget session, it is clear that the state government is running on the principle of Yavat Jivete Sukham Jivete, Rinam Kritva Ghritam Pibet (So long as you live, live happily. Take debt and drink ghee).”
On Wednesday, state finance minister Jagdish Dewra admitted in the House that the loan burden on the state is bigger than the annual budget for 2022-23.
The former Union minister said, “In 2020, the state’s loan burden was Rs 1.80 lakh crore which has become Rs 2.33 lakh crore in the year 2021 and Rs 2.73 lakh crore in 2022. According to the government, by 2023 the total debt on Madhya Pradesh will be Rs 3.25 lakh crore.” The senior Congress leader explained that the BJP government in the state has taken a net loan of Rs 52,413 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 40,082 crore in 2021-22. Kamal Nath claimed that in the last six years, from 2016-17 to 2021-22, MP government paid Rs 83,000 crore as interest. This year, government will take a loan of Rs 52,000 crore and spend Rs 22,000 crore on interest payments.
