Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) general secretary Parambans Singh Romana, on Tuesday, accused Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of passing off borrowings as revenue to mislead people on Punjab’s finances and falsely claiming the State had surpassed Haryana in revenue collection.
Addressing a Press conference, the SAD leader said, “The chief minister has added the revenue figure of Rs 31,839 Crore with the borrowing of Rs 16,075 crore and merged them to project revenue earnings of Rs 47,923 Crore which is tantamount to committing fraud on Punjabis.”
He said the CM had chosen to use these fudged figures and launch a misinformation campaign on his official handle.
Romana said Punjab’s revenue had decreased by Rs 2,000 Crore when compared to the same period last year even as its borrowings have increased by three times. He said the total revenue for the period between April and August 2022 was Rs 33,702 Crore compared to revenue of Rs 31,839 Crore during the same period this year.
The SAD leader said similarly while the borrowing between April and August 2022 was Rs 5589 Crore, it had increased by more than three times to Rs 16,075 Crore during the same period this year.
On the CM’s claim that Punjab had surpassed Haryana in revenue collection during the first five months of this financial year, Romana said even this claim was a pack of lies.
He said the total revenue of Haryana as per Haryana’s CAG report was Rs 40,757 Crore compared to Rs 31,839 Crore revenue of Punjab. “This means the earnings of Haryana were Rs 9,000 Crore more than that of Punjab during this period,” Romana said.
“Haryana had bested Punjab in all other parameters during April-August. He said the GST collection of Haryana was Rs 13,462 Crore against Rs 8,473 Crore of Punjab. Haryana earned Rs 3,800 Crore in stamp duty and registration compared to Rs 1,803 Crore earned by Punjab. Haryana also fared better in Sales Tax earning Rs 4,687 Crore compared to Rs 2,691 Crore earned by Punjab. In the case of excise, Haryana earned Rs 4,885 Crore compared to Rs 3,800 Crore earned by Punjab,” the SAD leader added. Romana said the only thing Punjab was ahead vis a vis Haryana was in taking debt even as it had spent a measly Rs 1,200 Crore in capital expenditure which constituted 3.8 per cent of its total earnings.