Goa Congress demands CM Sawant release a white paper on economy, claims 'mismanagement'

The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) on Monday demanded Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to immediately release a white paper on the financial status of the state alleging that 'mismanagement' in the administration had been occurring since 2012. In a letter to the CM, GPCC president Girish Chodankar claimed that 'unprecedented liabilities' had been piling up causing a financial crisis in the state. "The mismanagement of administration since 2012 by running the affairs from the hospital and through proxy Chief Minister has contributed in unprecedented liabilities of nearly Rs 24,000 crore resulted into per capital liabilities of Rs 1,50,000," the letter read.

Read: Question In Goa Board's Class 10 English Exam Stokes Row

"You must accept the fact that unless a White Paper is released and expert opinions are sought on the financial crisis, it is not possible to find solutions to the economic disaster of Goa. The Covid-19 lockdown has added to the woes of the common man and has resulted in the collapse of household budgets of every citizen," it read.

Read:Goa Makes COVID-19 Negative Certificate Mandatory For People Entering State From May 25

Congress stated that leader of opposition Digambar Kamat and Chodankar had been demanding the release of "White Paper" on Financial Status of Goa for a while now and that Kamat had also submitted an 'Economic Revival Plan of Rs 100 Cr" for the state. It added that as per the Budget 2020-21, "a lot of discrepancies, including incorrect Fiscal Deficits and negative opening balance of over Rs 5,000 Crore," had been already brought to notice by the party.

"Now with the changing global and national financial and economic conditions, fear is growing that the global economy will shrink by 3 per cent. On the other side, our national economy started shrinking with the Government of India releasing the report for March 2020 alone shows 8 core industries (except coal) shrunk by 6.5 per cent. Our projected growth of 3.5 per cent has fallen to 1.8 per cent which will have a very negative impact on the Goan economy also. Goa Government revenue will fall to the extent of 35 to 45 per cent," it read.

Demanded that the CM should release the Roll Over the Budget for 2020-21 based on the white paper, the Goa Congress stated that in order to revive the economy from the effects of the pandemic, it was necessary to pump the state's resources into agriculture, horticulture, rural employment, and social welfare schemes. 

Read: Goa: 50 Flight Passengers Test Negative For Coronavirus

Read: Goa: 3 Flights Arrive, 10 Of Scheduled 13 Cancelled

(With Agency Inputs)