New brooms sweep clean

The fact is that even while Punjab is one of the country8217;s most prosperous states 8212; its per capita net domestic product at Rs 4,389 is the third highest in the country 8212; its economy is in the doldrums. A combination of blind populism and bad financial management, the legacy of the previous Parkash Singh Badal government, has left it with a revenue deficit of Rs 3,500 crore and a public debt of Rs 33,000 crore.

As this newspaper reported on Thursday, a huge chunk of the state8217;s revenue goes towards the payment of interest on loans, salaries and pensions. Given this reality, the state8217;s recently announced austerity package, which seeks to both cut government spending and junk some populist measures, should come as no surprise. Since salaries account for a great deal of government expediture, the focus seems to be on pruning government jobs, both in terms of recruitment, which are to be frozen for a year, and in terms of encouraging government servants to avail of voluntary retirement schemes.

The austerity package, coming as it does after the state government8217;s well-publicised exposure of corruption in the Punjab Public Service Commission, signals the newly-elected chief minister8217;s intention to set his state on the right track.

But this can only be a beginning. If Singh is serious about reforming his state8217;s economy he will have to tackle power reform before it is too late. After all, it is the Badal government8217;s ruinous scheme of providing free power to farmers that has contributed greatly towards bankrupting Punjab.

So much of a sacred cow has the doling out of free electricity to farmers become in this predominantly agrarian state, that the Congress in its election campaign had to pipe a similar tune as the Shiromani Akali Dal on the issue. Therefore, effecting a turnaround on it would demand great political savvy. Not that it cannot be done. If those who benefited from this policy are made to realise how much the dole has cost them in actuality 8212; in terms of the state8217;s development, jobs, infrastructure, industrialisation, and so on 8212; and if they perceive the salutary effect of good governance on their lives, they should come around sooner, not later.

This is where firmness of purpose would help immensely and this is where the Captain can benefit from the example of the Kerala chief minister. Antony went through some torrid times after announcing cost-cutting measures, with almost the entire government workforce going on strike in protest. He emerged unscathed and his state8217;s finances are the better for it.

A new broom does, of course, sweep clean, but Captain Amarinder Singh now has to demonstrate that his sweeping is a sustainable exercise and not just a public relations one.