Punjab’s debt burden soars under Mann government before exit, accuses /Tikshan Sood

Punjab’s debt burden soars under Mann government before exit, accuses /Tikshan Sood

Hoshiarpur/ 16 June/Daljeet Ajnoha 

Former cabinet minister and senior BJP leader Tikshan Sood alleged on Tuesday that the Mann government has severely damaged Punjab’s economy by piling up massive new debt. He said Punjab had a debt of Rs 2.82 lakh crore when the Aam Aadmi Party took office in 2022 — a burden accumulated over 70 years.

Campaign promises by AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann had included assurances that the party would generate an additional Rs 54,000 crore annually: Rs 34,000 crore by eliminating corruption and Rs 20,000 crore by stopping illegal mining. Sood said the opposite has happened since AAP came to power, with Punjab’s debt nearly doubling.

He claimed the state borrowed twice this financial year — Rs 28,000 crore and Rs 25,000 crore — and is now set to take another loan of Rs 1,000 crore, bringing new borrowing to about Rs 63,000 crore in two months. According to him, lack of funds has stalled development work and created difficulties in paying salaries and pensions to government employees. He added that ongoing projects are being financed by funds sent from the Centre.

Sood argued that if the state has not generated the promised additional Rs 54,000 crore, it indicates a sharp rise in corruption and illegal mining. He warned that the Mann government appears determined to saddle incoming administrations with a heavy debt burden, thereby crippling Punjab’s economy before leaving office.