MUMBAI, AUG 22: With the Congress-led Democratic Front Government's financial problems mounting by the day, the State is virtually going the Bihar way. There are absolutely no funds left for undertaking development works or repayment of huge loans, and the monthy revenue collection is so meagre that it is just enough to pay the salaries of its employees.Even the anticipated deficit of Rs 750 crore, which was left uncovered, will touch an all-time high of Rs 2,500 crore owing to the populist decisions taken by the Vilasrao Deshmukh Government to woo the farming community.``We are slowly drifting the Bihar way. Since the last three months, our monthly revenue collection is just enough to pay the staff their salaries which works out to about Rs 700 to Rs 800 crore. In the months to come, if hard decisions are not taken, we will have to float bonds for making payment to our employees,'' a senior Cabinet minister said.The Cabinet minister further revealed that State-run corporations as well as boards have been given asked not to approach the government for financial assistance and instead, they should float bonds or raise loan from the open market to meet their financial demands.At a high-level meeting convened by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh to discuss the resource mobilisation plan, top bureaucrats of the Finance Department informed that all was not well on the financial front and that there was urgent need to take stringent steps to resolve the crisis. ``We are in a very bad condition. If drastic steps are not taken, we will have to live on overdrafts,'' a senior official said.``Actually, the critical situation is mainly due to the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission, which the State was forced to implement last year. And to make it worse, the resource position has by and large remained nearly static, the official said.The official further said, ``the additional burden on the State exchequer was to the extent of Rs 4,000 crore, while, there was no corresponding increase in the revenue collection. In addition, the new Government has released Rs 1400 crore to protect the interest of the farmers,'' the official said.Out of the Rs 1,400 crore, Rs 1,000 crore was given to the cotton growers, Rs 200 crore for onion growers, Rs 100 crore for the sugarcane farmers, while another Rs 100 crore was released for milk producers. ``No doubt, we are a welfare state, but now it was time for all of us to take hard decisions. Now we are not in a position to take such populist decisions,'' he added.The official said the Chief Minister has emphasised the need to step up revenue recovery and also curb non-planned as well as planned expenditure. ``Our target from all sources is Rs 27,400 crore. Deshmukh has insisted that the entire amount should be collected before the stipulated date,'' the official said, adding, while a cut of 10 per cent has been imposed on the non-planned expenditure to garner Rs 250 crore, another cut of equal percentage is on cards on the planned as well as non-planned expenditure to save at least Rs 1,000 crore.In addition, the Chief Minister has also asked all the heads of departments to take a stringent review of all ongoing projects as well as staff strength. ``We feel that non-productive schemes as well as projects should be closed for ever, while a voluntary retirement scheme should be drafted for surplus staff,'' the official pointed out.
