Bhupinder Singh Hooda's populist schemes leave Haryana in Rs 80k cr debt

CHANDIGARH: With public borrowings of Haryana touching Rs 80,000 crore, the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government will face a challenge of implementing populist schemes that were announced by the previous regime led by former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Sources said to generate funds for the running schemes, the state government on Wednesday notified the sale of Haryana Government Stock (Securities) for a 10-year period for an aggregate amount of Rs 750 crore.A notification to this effect has been issued by the state finance department.
Increase in the old age pension and other pensions from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 and implementation of pay scales to class II, III and IV state employees and policemen putting them at par with their Punjab counterparts were the main decisions that the cabinet headed by Hooda took in its second-last meeting in September. The cabinet had then announced to implement the decisions from November 1, which is also the Haryana Day.
The deadline for implementing the decisions will come a week after Khattar taking oath as the Haryana CM on October 26. Outgoing CM Hooda said he expected the new government to go ahead with the public welfare schemes announced and decided by his team. He also denied that the Congress government in Haryana had emptied the state coffers and had resorted to sell off public assets to meet recurring expenses like release of salaries to employees.
Though CM-designate Khattar could not be contacted, senior Haryana BJP leader and Ambala Cantonment MLA Anil Vij asserted that their government would review the last-minute announcements made by Hooda and his cabinet ahead of the announcement of assembly elections. "We understand the tight financial position of the state. As far as pension scheme is concerned, we have already announced to provide Rs 2,000 to the beneficiaries. However, the deadline set by the previous cabinet is not binding on us. We will review the decisions of the previous government and an adequate action will follow. First, let our team formally take charge of the state," he said.
"Secondly, he (Hooda) had just made announcements. There would hundreds of such cabinet decisions which were never notified," Vij added.