Chandigarh: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal yesterday said there was no financial crunch in the state and hit back by alleging that Congress-led UPA government was under severe financial crisis and burdened with huge budgetary deficit.
Addressing a press conference here, he said there was no financial crunch in the state as has been frequently reported in media by "anti-Punjab elements".
Badal said productive utilization of debt was not always bad and is essential for growth as no business, country and state could survive without loan.
He said Punjab government had never defaulted in the last 7 years in payment of salaries, pensions, principal repayment, employee arrears etc.
Seeking to put a stop on the ongoing debate about "ailing fiscal health" of Punjab, Sukhbir put out a detailed comparative presentation of 6 years of Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government led by Parkash Singh Badal with the Congress government headed by Amarinder Singh till 2007.
The Deputy Chief Minister said that instead of blaming the Punjab government for the state's fiscal health, UPA government should focus on its own "severe financial crisis and huge budgetary deficit".
He said "only 6 to 7 months of reserves are left with the Centre and after that we will have to move on cycles..."As compared to Punjab's 32 per cent debt, the Centre's debt is 68 per cent," he said.
