SAD accuses AAP govt of ruining financial health of Mandi Board by forcing it to take Rs 2,000 crore loan on high interest after banking institutions refused same
Parambans S Romana says it is clear now that banking institutions have trust deficit in the AAP govt
Chandigarh, September 12, 2024 - The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today condemned the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for ruining the financial health of the Mandi Board by forcing it to take a loan of Rs 2,000 crore from NABARD at an astronomical rate of interest after all banking institutions refused to extend loan to it despite a State guarantee.
In a statement here, senior SAD leader Parambans Singh Romana said “it is clear that all government banking institutions have trust deficit in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and this is why Mandi Board was forced to approach NABARD to secure a loan of Rs 2,000 crore at 8.3 per cent rate of interest when government banks provide the same loan at an interest ranging from five to six per cent”.
Asserting that it was a direct result of financial mismanagement and squandering of funds on advertisements and propaganda exercises, Parambans Romana said “now the AAP government is pushing the Mandi Board into the red by forcing it to go in for loans at high interest rates”. He said this was being done after the State government had exhausted all its options to secure loans with the State debt reaching an unprecedented Rs 3.75 lakh crore.
The SAD leader said Mandi Board was going in for the repair of only 17,500 kilometers out of the total of 65,000 km of rural link roads maintained by it. “Repair of these roads is long overdue and the Board is not able to do so because it’s funds have been diverted for propaganda exercises by the AAP government”. Mr Romana said even now the Board had taken the loan from Nabard with a two year moratorium as it did not have any intention to repay it during its tenure in government.
Accusing the AAP government of ruining the State’s rural infrastructure, Romana said out of the total of 65,000 km of rural roads as many as 55,000 km had been laid by successive SAD governments. He said similarly out of 1872 Mandis in the State as many as 1700 Mandis had been established by the SAD governments. “This government is even unable to maintain these facilities”, he added.
Romana also asked chief minister Bhagwant Mann to explain why his government was unable to spend any money on infrastructure development. “AAP Convenor Arvind Kejriwal said he would earn Rs 20,000 crore from mining besides saving Rs 34,000 crore pilferage in government tenders. Clearly this has not happened with zero income from mining with AAP ministers and legislators calling the shots and no saving in government tenders”.