CHANDIGARH: Senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia on Thursday targeted the Aam Aadmi Party government over the issue of mounting debt on Punjab.
Sharing details related to the debt burden on Punjab through his social media accounts, Majithia wrote that after the independence of the country, different governments formed in Punjab had taken a total loan of Rs 2, 81, 773 crore till the financial year 2021 to 22. With this borrowing, governments from time to time created the basic infrastructure of the state. He said that between 2007 and 2017, under the leadership of the late chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and with the far sighted vision of Sukhbir Singh Badal, the basic infrastructure of Punjab was established, which people of the state still remember.
Majithia said that by March 2026 this debt is going to increase to around Rs 4, 17, 136 crore because the Bhagwant Mann government has taken nearly Rs 1, 35, 363 crore loan in just four years. He added that more borrowing will also be taken in the financial year 2025 to 26 and the total debt may reach nearly Rs 5 lakh crore.
He alleged that despite this borrowing, no kind of progress has been made in the basic infrastructure of Punjab. Raising questions over the debt, Majithia said that overall it can be said that the Bhagwant Mann government is “0 plus 0 equals 0”.