Cong put 250-cr burden on HP

CHANDIGARH, June 21: The previous Congress government in the State had opened over 1,000 educational institutions and about 104 health insti...

CHANDIGARH, June 21: The previous Congress government in the State had opened over 1,000 educational institutions and about 104 health institutions without any budgetary provision and had imposed an additional burden of Rs 250 crore on the State exchequer.

All these institutions were opened just before the assembly polls and with a clear objective to woo the voters. This is one of the series of financial improprieties, which the Dhumal led BJP-HVC coalition government has detected in its effort to prepare a white-paper on the state8217;s finances. The government last week transferred the finance secretary Kanwar Shamsher Singh and posted senior bureaucrat P.S. Rana in his place.

The sources said Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, who presided over a meeting of the State Planning and 20-point Implementation Committee, early this week, was informed about the problems of meeting the financial liabilities as several schemes and projects were approved without any budgetary provision. The CM reportedly took the Education Department to task for the lapses.

The available data shows that 1,346 primary schools were opened during 1997-98 against a budgetary provision of 700 schools. About 359 middle schools were opened against sanctioned 250 and 174 high schools were announced, exceeding the limit of 50 schools fixed in the budget. For higher secondary schools, the record was 142 against the budgetary provision of mere 20 during the year.

Three colleges were also opened without any provision in the budget.8220;This would need about Rs 40 crore of revenue expenditure salary etc and about Rs 170 crore on account of capital expenditure for buildings etc. at current prices,8221; says a confidential note.

Similarly, 116 health sub centres were opened against a provision of 50 in the budget, 62 primary health centres against a provision of 33 and five community health centres against a budgetary provision of only three. This would need Rs 2.32 crore on account of revenue expenditure and Rs 29.5 crore on account of capital expenditure, besides about Rs six crore on account of other capital expenditure.

Chief Minister admits that his government would find it very difficult to run all these institutions in absence of the budgetary provisions. He said Virbhadra Singh owes a public apology for cheating the people and playing havoc with the state exchequer.