Kolkata: There is still more than a month to go before the outcome of the assembly elections in West Bengal is revealed.
However, irrespective of whether the Left Front manages to form the government for the eighth consecutive time or Trinamool Congress storms to power, there is little doubt on one count — the new government will be inheriting a bankrupt legacy and a state in deep financial coma.
According to unofficial estimates, at the end of the 2010-2011 financial year, the total debt burden of West Bengal is around Rs2.25 trillion (Dh187.5 billion) — 18 times higher than the figure in June 1977, when the first Left Front government, under the leadership of the late Jyoti Basu, had taken oath of office.
Presenting the vote-on-account at the assembly on March 21, state finance minister, Asim Dasgupta, said the debt burden had actually come down to Rs1.86 trillion from Rs1.92 trillion, owing to a 34 per cent rise in tax revenue.
"But all that number crunching sounds hollow when we consider the fact that almost every two to three months, the government is borrowing money from the Reserve Bank of India to fund its wage bill," Amit Mitra, former secretary-general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) told Gulf News in Kolkata last week.
Absolutely horrendous
Reacting to Dasgupta's claim that the state's debt burden had declined marginally, Mitra, a Trinamool candidate against Dasgupta from the Khardaha constituency in North 24 Parganas, said: "Even if we accept the finance minister's claim, a debt burden of Rs1.86 trillion translates into 46 per cent of the gross state domestic product.
"And that is absolutely horrendous.
"It is an extremely precarious situation for the state and the Left Front owes an explanation to the people of Bengal for allowing this crisis to precipitate."
It is quite shocking indeed that currently, 93 per cent of state revenue is being utilised by the government towards payment of salaries to state government employees and for debt servicing and payment of subsidies.
As part of a desperate fire-fighting measure, Dasgupta conformed to the Financial Responsibility and Budgetary Management (FRBM) Act towards the end of the current government's tenure, thereby ensuring a Rs5,365.9 million bailout from the central government. But that's too little, too late.
As a consequence of accepting the FRBM norms, the new government will find itself saddled with a Catch 22 situation, whereby spending will have to be curbed in social sectors such as health and education, even as it grapples with the compulsions of offering a populist government.
For the Left Front, this can be extremely damaging because after having run the state for 34 years, it will have little explanation to offer the masses and that too when the ruling CPI (M)'s popularity with the electorate is fast eroding.
As for Trinamool, this deep financial crisis can severely thwart the implementation of many of its poll promises, should the party come to power.
However, irrespective of whether the Left Front manages to form the government for the eighth consecutive time or Trinamool Congress storms to power, there is little doubt on one count — the new government will be inheriting a bankrupt legacy and a state in deep financial coma.
According to unofficial estimates, at the end of the 2010-2011 financial year, the total debt burden of West Bengal is around Rs2.25 trillion (Dh187.5 billion) — 18 times higher than the figure in June 1977, when the first Left Front government, under the leadership of the late Jyoti Basu, had taken oath of office.
Presenting the vote-on-account at the assembly on March 21, state finance minister, Asim Dasgupta, said the debt burden had actually come down to Rs1.86 trillion from Rs1.92 trillion, owing to a 34 per cent rise in tax revenue.
"But all that number crunching sounds hollow when we consider the fact that almost every two to three months, the government is borrowing money from the Reserve Bank of India to fund its wage bill," Amit Mitra, former secretary-general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) told Gulf News in Kolkata last week.
Absolutely horrendous
Reacting to Dasgupta's claim that the state's debt burden had declined marginally, Mitra, a Trinamool candidate against Dasgupta from the Khardaha constituency in North 24 Parganas, said: "Even if we accept the finance minister's claim, a debt burden of Rs1.86 trillion translates into 46 per cent of the gross state domestic product.
"And that is absolutely horrendous.
"It is an extremely precarious situation for the state and the Left Front owes an explanation to the people of Bengal for allowing this crisis to precipitate."
It is quite shocking indeed that currently, 93 per cent of state revenue is being utilised by the government towards payment of salaries to state government employees and for debt servicing and payment of subsidies.
As part of a desperate fire-fighting measure, Dasgupta conformed to the Financial Responsibility and Budgetary Management (FRBM) Act towards the end of the current government's tenure, thereby ensuring a Rs5,365.9 million bailout from the central government. But that's too little, too late.
As a consequence of accepting the FRBM norms, the new government will find itself saddled with a Catch 22 situation, whereby spending will have to be curbed in social sectors such as health and education, even as it grapples with the compulsions of offering a populist government.
For the Left Front, this can be extremely damaging because after having run the state for 34 years, it will have little explanation to offer the masses and that too when the ruling CPI (M)'s popularity with the electorate is fast eroding.
As for Trinamool, this deep financial crisis can severely thwart the implementation of many of its poll promises, should the party come to power.
