AP observed fiscal discipline despite constraints: CM Jagan

VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has said the rate of AP’s debt increase was reduced to 12.13 per cent during his term from a high of 21.87 per cent during Chandrababu Naidu's tenure.

Speaking in the Assembly as part of discussion on the motion of thanks to the Governor's speech, the CM said he has provided transparent governance “without bribes and discrimination” by crediting Rs 2.55 lakh crore directly into the accounts of the beneficiaries and provided Rs 76,000 crore through non-DBT mode, under various schemes.

The Chief Minister recalled, “We started the journey in 2019 with a debt of Rs 4.12 lakh crore and now it is about Rs 7 lakh crore, which is `366 crore less than the recommended/ permitted limit of the finance commission.”

He refuted the Opposition’s allegations about the ‘difficult’ financial status of AP and said such talks were baseless and exaggerated.

Jagan Mohan Reddy said his government had implemented welfare schemes and taken up development activities with financial discipline despite the emergence of adverse situations like Covid-19. “We inherited AP’s strained and complex financial status from the previous TD rule,” he said and pooh-poohed Chandrababu Naidu’s tall promises ahead of the coming elections.

“The Opposition leader carries with him the blemish of dumping the 2014 TD manifesto into the dustbin after he won power, while the YSRC treats our manifesto as a holy book. We implemented all the promises we made to the people,” Jagan Mohan Reddy claimed.

The Chief Minister dismissed the charges that the YSRC government turned the state debt-ridden. He said the state had rolled out DBT welfare schemes worth `2,55,000 crore and non-DBT welfare schemes worth `1.07,000 crore.

He said, “The previous TD government too had the same Budget but it could not deliver welfare. The difference speaks volumes in relation to the commitment of the chief ministers then and now.”

Explaining the facts and figures through a powerpoint presentation in the Assembly, the CM said the debt of the residual Andhra Pradesh, which stood at `1,53,000 crore including all types of loans at the time of bifurcation, had gone up to Rs 4,12,288 crore in 2019 when the YSRC came to power.

He said, “Now, the total debt stands at Rs 7,03,000 crore and it clearly shows the growth rate of debt during the TD rule was 21.87 per cent, while it stands at 12.13 per cent during the last five years.”

“Not even a single welfare scheme was implemented during the TD rule though the Budget was the same and the debt-growth rate was higher. Braving the odds of reduction in devolution of central funds and reduced tax revenues during the last five years - due to several reasons including the Covid-19 pandemic that resulted in a revenue loss of Rs 66,116 crore – the state government has excelled in fiscal discipline, debt management, planning and implementation of a slew of welfare schemes in a transparent manner.”

The CM recalled that the state was bifurcated in an “unjust manner”, by allocating 50 per cent of the revenues to Telangana that represented 42 per cent of the population, and the remaining 50 per cent to residual Andhra Pradesh that has 58 per cent population. This put the state at an annual revenue loss of Rs 13,000 crore, he said.