Economist and Balurghat BJP MLA Ashok Lahiri said on Friday that Bengal was in a fiscal crisis and the situation would worsen in the future if the state government continued with its current policy of high revenue expenditure without a clear roadmap on revenue mobilisation.
“For the Trinamul government, it has become a tradition wherein their revised estimates on revenue receipts lag behind the budget estimates.... There was no exception to this even this year,” said Lahiri during the discussion on the state budget in the Assembly.
Lahiri was the first speaker on the discussions on the budget tabled by finance minister (independent charge) Chandrima Bhattacharya on Thursday. The discussion will continue on Saturday
The BJP MLA, a member of the Fifteenth Finance Commission, spoke on the mounting debt burden of the Bengal government as he referred to how the state’s total debt burden would go up to Rs 6,30,783 crore in the revised estimate for 2023-24 while the budget estimate for this fiscal was Rs 5.86 lakh crore.
“I am afraid of witnessing a worse situation in the future if the government continues in the same direction,” said the BJP MLA.
Lahiri, who had earlier worked as the chief economic adviser of the central government, tried to turn the tables on the Trinamul government — which has been claiming that the Bengal economy’s performance is better than that of the Centre — with a variety of data that he plucked out of the budget documents.
The budget this year contained several welfare schemes, including a hike in financial assistance for its flagship scheme Lakhsmir Bhandar; handouts for fishermen, weavers and artisans; a rise in the salary of civic volunteers and village police; and tax exemption in different sectors.
During his 20-minute speech, Lahiri said the annual financial statement did not clarify the source of funds to run all those schemes. After pointing out how the government had exempted taxes in its budget, resulting in a shortfall in tax collection, the economist urged the finance minister to publish an account of foregone revenue on the floor of the Assembly.
The BJP MLA claimed the budget was from a ‘fairy tale land’ and lacked details. He also went after the Trinamul government for failing to meet its capital expenditure targets.
“There is no word about revenue mobilisation in the budget... From where the money will come? In every well-thought budget, there is an account for forgone revenue. I urge the minister (finance) through you (Speaker) to publish an account of forgone revenue of this budget,” he added.
Lahiri was countered by several Trinamul legislators, including Jadavpur MLA Debabrata Majumdar and parliamentary affairs minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, who went after the Union budget presented by Nirmala Sitharaman.
“Your government in Delhi has cut down on capital expenditure in the current financial year from Rs 10,00,961 crore (Budget Estimate) to Rs 9,50,246 crore (Revised Estimate),” said Majumdar while supporting the state budget for 20 minutes on the floor of the Assembly.
Majumdar said the Narendra Modi government had also been missing revenue realisation targets, which has resulted in rising debts for the Centre. “We have flagged all these issues.... Can the economist MLA defend the central budget?” he asked.
When Lahiri was asked about Trinamul’s say on the Union budget, he said: “There should be no comparison between an apple and an orange.”