Former Tripura chief minister and leader of the opposition Manik Sarkar on Wednesday advised chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb to take a financial expert’s suggestion for the better management of the poor financial condition of the state.
He also demanded that government publish a white paper, informing the people about the present true condition of the state’s finances.
According to Manik Sarkar, Tripura is in a bad position as regards its finances and the Tripura government is going through an economic crunch.
Sarkar said, “The chief minister should seek the financial advice from the NITI Ayog or the Union government India to tide over the economic crisis.”
Tripura finance minister Jishnu Debbarma had placed the budget for 2021-22 financial year during the ongoing budget session.
The proposed budget of Rs 22,724.50 crores has been shown a revenue deficit of Rs 1717.15 crores for 2021-22, whereas the total deficit is estimated to be Rs 773.43 crores for the last two years.
Sarkar participating in a budget discussion at the state assembly said there are clear signs of financial mismanagement.
“No large scale recruitment drives have been undertaken. Along with 10,323 teachers, many scheme-based employees have also lost their jobs after the BJP government came to power in Tripura. If we consider this then the government should be saving sufficient amount of money,” Sarkar said.
The CPI(M) chief pointed out that the BJP-led state government had not undertaken any huge development projects in the state.
If 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 would have been released for their employees.
“The administrative expenditure in the past financial year was very low because of the Covid-19 pandemic and there is no reason to accept the revenue deficit,” Sarkar said.
The Tripura government had also suspended the MLA area developing fund and reduced the salaries of all MLAs last year.