Union minister Manish Tewari today said that Punjab's economy was on the verge of collapse because of the "mismanagement" by the state government and demanded a white paper in this connection.
Alleging that the state's economy has deteriorated in the last six years, he said, "The debt of Rs 1 lakh crore on Punjab is too difficult to explain. Punjab's economy was in doldrums for a long time and now it is on the verge of collapse."
The Union Information and Broadcasting minister said, "The situation clearly shows that the SAD-BJP government is incapable of managing the state's economy and they must issue a white paper as to what went wrong," he said.
Tewari also alleged that in the last six years the state government has violated all norms of economic management which has resulted in the present financial slump.
On Punjab government's demand of higher share of funds from central pool of tax revenue from the Finance Commission, Tewari said that he will leave it to the wisdom of the commission.
He said it has never happened before that a state had to "mortgage its buildings to generate loans for paying salaries to its employees".
{{/usCountry}}He said it has never happened before that a state had to "mortgage its buildings to generate loans for paying salaries to its employees".
{{/usCountry}}On the possibility of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi being declared as BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, Tewari said the candidate hardly matters when the fight is to keep the communal forces and forces with that ideology at bay.