CAG warns govt is pushing K’taka towards debt trap, says LoP Ashoka
Bengaluru: Commenting on the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) findings regarding Karnataka’s economy, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) R. Ashoka stated on Wednesday that the central auditor’s report has laid bare the extent of Karnataka’s financial decline under the poor financial management of the self-proclaimed economic expert, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
“The Karnataka government, for short-term political gains, is sacrificing the future of Karnataka. If this system continues, Karnataka will be trapped in irrecoverable debt and economic bankruptcy, with guaranteed stagnation in development,” LoP Ashoka opined.
Ashoka stated, “The fiscal deficit, which stood at Rs 46,623 crore in 2022–23, has risen to Rs 65,522 crore in 2023–24. This growing deficit is proof of how unscientific guarantee schemes are pushing Karnataka towards bankruptcy.”
The state government has borrowed Rs 63,000 crore, which is Rs 37,000 crore more than last year. The central auditor has warned that this will place a massive interest burden on future generations. Investment in roads, irrigation, and infrastructure has been reduced by Rs 5,229 crore, leading to a 68 per cent increase in incomplete projects.
“After Karnataka recovered in 2022–23 under the BJP government’s governance and financial management post-Covid, the state has once again slipped into a revenue deficit of Rs 9,271 crore in 2023–24. This is a direct consequence of Congress’s unscientific guarantees and poor financial handling,” Ashoka slammed.
In just one year, Rs 36,538 crore – nearly 15 per cent of the state’s total revenue expenditure – has been spent on the five guarantees. Along with this, a subsidy bill of Rs 60,774 crore has crippled the state’s development, he noted.
If the fiscal deficit is not immediately brought under control, the state’s economy will decline further, debt pressure will mount, and development will collapse. Today’s guarantee schemes are guarantees of future darkness, the CAG has warned, Ashoka emphasised.
“This is the working style of the self-proclaimed economist Siddaramaiah – the so-called ‘Karnataka Model’ of the government. Remember, history does not record how many budgets someone presented, but how much those budgets contributed to the state’s development and long-term growth,” Ashoka criticized.
The CAG report tabled in the Karnataka Assembly on Tuesday has revealed that 15 per cent of the borrowings were allocated to the five flagship guarantees. Rs 16,964 crore for Gruha Lakshmi; Rs 8,900 crore for Gruha Jyoti; Rs 7,384 crore for Anna Bhagya; Rs 3,200 crore for Shakti free travel scheme and Rs 88 crore for Yuva Nidhi. The fiscal deficit has risen from Rs 46,623 crore to Rs 65,522 crore, an increase of Rs 37,000 crore over the net debt.
