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Bhagwant Mann sitting on empty coffers? BJP blames freebies for August salary delay for govt staff

While Punjab government sources claimed that it has been facing a shortage of funds due to the closure of the GST compensation amount from July 1 and due to an increase in the electricity subsidy burden, the BJP has blamed the 'Kejriwal model' of governance for the draining of the exchequer.

Bhagwant Mann sitting on empty coffers? BJP blames freebies for August salary delay for govt staff
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First Published Sep 7, 2022, 3:56 PM IST

Where did the money go? That's the question the Bharatiya Janata Party is asking Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party after multiple reports appeared in the media about Punjab government employees not receiving their August salary. In Delhi, where the AAP is in power, employees of Delhi University's Deen Dyal Upadhyay college decided to work five days a week to save costs.

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While Punjab government sources claimed that it has been facing a shortage of funds due to the closure of the GST compensation amount from July 1 and due to an increase in the electricity subsidy burden, the BJP has blamed the 'Kejriwal model' of governance for the draining of the exchequer.

Union Law Minister took to Twitter to say, "Kejriwal wants to make India World Number 1, but what has he done to Punjab within a year? Delhi is National Capital, and the per capita income of Delhi is three times higher than the average per capita of India. Huge revenue is extravagantly wasted!"

Another Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the worsening state of Punjab's economy is a fitting case study on the perils of political showmanship and irrational freebie culture. "Irresponsible politics by AAP is not only hurting Punjab but also India’s growth story," he said.

Slamming Kejriwal, Union Minister of State for Electronics & Technology, said: "When your politics and governance is all about 'freebies' and 'liquor commissions', then this is the result -- a bankrupt economy."

However, AK Sinha, Principal Secretary of the Finance Department, said that the salary was delayed due to technical reasons. Elaborating on the technical issue, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal S Cheema on Wednesday said the salary payout was delayed by 3-4 days as the state government had made 9,000 contractual employees permanent. "Everyone's salaries have been released today even as 18,000 new recruitments have been done," he claimed.

The draining of the exchequer is attributed to the waivers provided by the new AAP government in Punjab. The AAP government announced providing free electricity up to 300 units to every household. Besides this, due to waiving off the outstanding bills till December last year, a burden of Rs 1,298 crore was incurred. Apart from the power subsidy, the Punjab government owes Rs 20,122 crore as interest payment and Rs 15,145 crore as pension. Punjab also has to pay Rs 27,927 crore in advance and loan. The Punjab government also needs an amount of Rs 20,000 crore on other expenses.

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