Former chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh I Y R Krishna Rao has expressed concern over the growing debts of the state government, which he said, would lead to the total bankruptcy of the state.
In a statement, Krishna Rao said there was a yawning gap between the report of the Comptroller of Auditor General (CAG) and that of the state budgetary figures with regard to revenue deficit.
“While the CAG pointed out that the revenue deficit for the first nine months of 2021-22 was Rs 45,900 crore, Buggana projected the overall budgetary deficit at Rs 19,545 crore, which is nothing but deliberate scaling down of the deficit,” he said.
He also pointed out that the state was banking heavily on central grants for 2022-23. Buggana expected that the Centre would release Rs 56,000 crore.
In 2021-22, the state expected Rs 57,930 crore, but the actual grants were only Rs 43,632 crore – which is a shortage of Rs 14,000 crore.
“The budget has no sanctity, as the Centre won’t be able to give such a huge money as grants. The figures are only to show a balance in the budget, but the actuals are different,” he said.
IYR also pointed out the jugglery of figures in the capital expenditure. In 2021-22, the state projected Rs 31,198 crore towards capital expenditure, but the actual expenditure was only Rs 18,529 crore. This year, again, the state showed Rs 30,679 crore.
“This is only to mislead the people,” he said.
