Bharatiya Janata Party Political Affairs Committee (PAC) chairman I.Y.R. Krishna Rao on Tuesday said that the populist policies of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had pushed the State into deep financial crisis.
“Financial discipline has gone for a toss and the fact that the government is asking companies to supply sand, cement and other construction material on concessional rates to complete the housing projects tells it all about the magnitude of the problem. Immediate and effective measures are needed, otherwise the State would slip into an irrevocable crisis,” Mr.Krishna Rao told the media.
Mr. Rao said the YSR Congress Party had normalised the delayed payment of salaries and pensions. Hospitals, educational institutions and other service sectors lack basic amenities. The government is raising loans by mortgaging properties in Visakhapatnam,” he said.
The BJP leader attributed the existing crisis to absence of efficient leaders post bifurcation. “The TDP government had borrowed ₹1.53 lakh crore, in addition to the ₹86 lakh crore it had inherited as the residual State of Andhra Pradesh. The YSRCP government has raised loans of ₹1.45 lakh crore in a span of two years. This is in addition to an additional unaccounted for loans worth ₹2 lakh crore, thrusting a burden of ₹5 lakh crore on the State,” he said.
The BJP leader alleged that both Mr. Naidu and Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy had failed in financial discipline, as raising loans to implement welfare schemes was bound to result in a crisis of this magnitude, he said.
