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Rs 500 cr of loan every month
Harjap Singh
Aujla
 Twenty years ago
no one could anticipate that some day the rich Government of Punjab
will have to publicly borrow rupees five hundred crores each month
to pay salaries to its staff and to spare a small amount for a
skeleton developmental activity in the constituencies of some
selected favourite candidates.
But that is sadly true in 2009. Since
the beginning of this calendar year virtually every month the State
Government of Punjab is borrowing approximately five hundred crores
of rupees for just staying afloat. All this means that the Punjab
Government needs such an amount to keep paying the salary bill of
its staff and may be for some developmental expenditure too in some
high profile constituencies.
Most of the people in the state, don’t even notice that a massive
loan is being raised for maintaining the day to day functioning of
the Punjab Government. Those who do understand what this loan
implies, do take cognizance of the pitiable condition of the Punjab
Government. To the common man working in the fields and taking
advantage of free power to the farm sector, it is business as usual.
But factually speaking the Punjab Government is spending upwards of
rupees six thousand this year only for servicing its old and new
debts and for paying salaries.
The Punjab State
Electricity Board is terribly short of spare parts like commonly
used transformers, bus-bars, transmission wires, electric poles etc
for its day to day maintenance work. The state electricity board was
already short of smaller daily use items since the beginning of the
year, but the matters worsened when four by-elections were
conducted. During these elections every item available in the stores
was diverted first to Nurmahal and then to Jalalabad, Kahnuwan and
Banur. Since winning these elections at any cost was the primary aim
of party in power, these constituencies were to be given
uninterrupted power supply for twenty four hours. In order to
fulfill this aim, all the vital spare parts available in the stores
of the PSEB were diverted to these constituencies. After the
by-elections are over, the power cuts are back with a vengeance even
in those four constituencies. The PSEB is terribly short of spare
equipment, but there is no money to buy essential items. The
government itself is not only sinking, it is drowning the
electricity board too with it.
The two day five
star “Atam Manthan” held in the cool comfort and five star hotels of
Shimla was meant to chalk out a strategy to rule the state of Punjab
for two decades. But the economic situation of the state indicates
severe rocking of the boat by the twin financial crises in the
government and the electricity board.
16
September 2009
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