SHIMLA, April 23: Squarely blaming the previous Congress government for what he described as financial mess, Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today did not rule out possibilities of a CBI probe into payment of ``commission'' to some private firms for raising market loans for the government.Chief Minister also announced that the proposed ``white-paper'' on the state's financial position was almost ready and would be released anytime from now. He also hinted at the state government's move to order a high-level probe into certain complaints pertaining to the previous government. ``Details of the complaints and follow-up action would be known to you within two days,'' Dhumal announced at a ``meet the press'' programme organised by the Press Club Shimla.Dhumal said an IAS officer of the rank of commissioner would be entrusted with inquiry into incidents involving ``kidnapping'' of Independent MLA Ramesh Chaudhry on March 5 and also subsequent developments.Replying to questions on the financial position, the Chief Minister said he was in full agreement with former Chief Minister and Lok Sabha member Shanta Kumar that a CBI probe must be ordered to know the recipients of the commission. ``Government is considering the matter and fully support the suggestion of Shanta Kumar,'' he said.The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in the report had detected that commission to the tune of Rs. 1.92 crore was paid by the government to two firms, which were engaged in raising loans for the state. Shanta Kumar had filed an affidavit in a local court here seeking the CBI probe into the matter.Dhumal charged former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh with financial mismanagement and also misleading the public on loans raised by the government. He contested former Chief Minister's claim that only Rs. 900 crore loans were raised, and accumulated deficit was Rs. 2850 crore. While maintaining that ``white-paper'' would reveal the actual position, Dhumal, however, questioned ``if position was so, why did the government keep a provision of Rs. 502 crore in the budget for interest payments ?''. He asserted that the accumulated debt-liability had exceeded Rs. 6000 crore and accused Virbhadra Singh of hiding the facts and also de-linking the loans raised through the HPSEB and state Forest Corporation.The Chief Minister said that because of lack of financial resources, the pace of development was bound to suffer unless the Centre bails out the state by sanctioning a financial package of Rs. 1000 crore. He said the matter had already been taken up with the Central leadership. ``We are quite hopeful for getting justice,'' he said.Dhumal announced that the BJP-HVC government was committed to raise its resources by enforcing financial discipline and tapping state's hydel and tourism potential. He claimed that financial indiscipline, which prevailed during the Congress regime had played havoc.
