Tripura Ex-CM alleges financial mismanagement by State Govt

AGARTALA:

Former Tripura Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition, Manik Sarkar, said that the State Government needs better financial management and advised Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb to take experts' suggestions.

"Tripura government is undergoing an economic crunch due to poor financial management," Sarkar said during the ongoing budget session.

"Financial experts from National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Ayog or the Center can help in managing the state's financial crisis," he added.

Finance Minister Jishnu Debbarma had presented the budget for the 2021-22 last week.

The proposed budget of Rs 22724.50 crore has shown a revenue deficit of Rs 1717.15 crore for the 2021-22 financial year whereas, the total deficit was estimated at an amount of Rs 773.43 crore, in the last two years.

Sarkar said that financial mismanagement was evident in the budget. As per his observation, no major development projects were taken up by the government.

“No large scale recruitment drives have been undertaken. Along with 10323 teachers, many scheme-based employees have also lost their jobs after this government came to power. So, from an economic perspective, the government saved a huge amount of money."

Sarkar also stated that the government has spoken about the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC), but only a fitment was given.

He also said that not even 10 per cent of the sanctioned posts of different government departments were filled up in the last three years.

"Only three per cent dearness allowance (DA) would be released for the employees from next month; the administrative expenditure in the last financial year was very low because of the pandemic and, there was no reason to accept the deficit finance."

He further said that the government saved a lot of money since all the schools, offices were closed during the COVID pandemic.

"The government had also suspended the MLA area developing fund and reduced the salary of all MLAs, ultimately saving funds," he added.

(Edited by Gabriel G Momin)

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