Misuse of funds reason for MP's poor financial health: Congress

The Congress alleged that fiscal mismanagement, especially excessive expenditure by the government, is leading Madhya Pradesh towards financial bankruptcy.

The Congress alleged on Friday that fiscal mismanagement, especially excessive expenditure by the government, is leading Madhya Pradesh towards financial bankruptcy.

State Congress vice-president Manak Agarwal said apart from misuse of funds, the failure to check tax evasion is responsible for the poor financial health of the state government.

"The government’s welfare schemes have almost stopped; the situation is so bad that contractors aren’t being paid their dues. Further, the state has to arrange funds from the market at high interest rates to pay salaries to its employees," the Congress leader said, adding that the state government was under a debt of nearly Rs 1 lakh crore.

"This shows the weak financial condition the state is currently in. In fact, the state government should have avoided the excessive expenditure by hosting the Global Investors’ Summit, as nearly `250 crore was spent in the extravaganza," Agarwal said.

The Congress leader alleged that the state government hasn’t got any investment and "the claims that were made during the summit will also fall flat, just like the previous summits."

"The state government should avoid useless expenditure, extravaganzas and foreign visits so that the situation is brought under control. Also, there is a need to keep an eye on tax evasion. The main job of the administration is to recover taxes, which is not happening," the Congress leader said.