Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma has requested the central government to release the state’s share from central taxes to bail out his government of the financial crisis that it is currently facing.
The state depends hugely on central taxes, but the delay in the release of the share has further worsened the financial situation.
From April to October this year, Meghalaya received a share of Rs 2,273 crores, which is a deficit of Rs 727 crores from the budget estimate of around Rs 3,000 crore.
“Overall, the financial position is not good, because we depend mainly on the share from central taxes. For a state like ours, the shortfall of Rs 727 crores is very big,” Meghalaya chief secretary, M S Rao said
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He said that the economy in the country as a whole has been affected and economic activities are yet to resume fully because of restrictions imposed due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Generally, there is less of spending when economic activities do not resume fully.
“We hope Meghalaya’s share would be better in the last three months of the current financial year,” Rao said.
He also dispelled the fear that government employees may not get their salaries because of the current financial crunch that the state is facing.
“We will pay the salary of employees, but for arrears, it is not possible so soon,” he said.