A Year Of Jairam Govt In H.P." Not Very Inspiring

There is an old saying" Cut Your Coat According To Your Cloth". A state reeling under severe financial crunch is, surely. expected to follow this dictum. Alas! whether Congress or BJP- two main power stakeholders in Himachal Pradesh- have just splurged the scare financial resources. And present govt headed by a son of a "poor' farmer is no exception.

Jairam Thakur hosted a grand oath-taking ceremony at Shimla 'sinking' Ridge' last year despite his vow to desist from pump and show and wasteful expenditure. governance. A year later, he is hosting another grand show tomorrow (December 27), this time at Dharamsala. Its a moot question whether a state running its day-to day expenses by borrowing really needed two extravaganzas within a year. According to rough estimate more than 10 crore is spent in hosting one grand show.

Himachal live in the rural areas as 90 percent of its population earn their livelihood by toiling on farms. Over 58 percent Himachalis have income less than Rs. 5000 per month despite 24 percent of ruralites. Even after more than seven decades of its existence, 80 percent of rural population still lack basic amenities. More than 60 percent of rural population are deprived of potable drinking water.

There is acute shortage of drinking water even during winter and people still are dependent on traditional sources like "kulhs, bawaris and rain-fed streams. Taps often run dry. Govt claims 100 percent electrification but 24-hour power supply in winter is still a distant dream. On the contrary, frequent power cuts, especially during winter are now a routine affairs in the state. Easy access to public services is nowhere to be seen notwithstanding the existence of Public Service Guarantee Act. This act has remained more on paper than in implementation.

Having come from a humble background, Chief Minister Jairam Thakur was expected to be totally different in working and in vision. He needed to cough up enough financial resources to meet the rising aspirations of the people. Sadly, The situation has gone from bad to worse. In order to meet its expenditure, present govt has borrowed over 35,00 crore. State coffer is almost empty.

Debt to Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) ratio stands st 38 per cent. The chairman of 15th Finance Commission while in Shimla had warned the govt that it was unsustainable. CAG in its 2017 report had warned Himachal as heading towards debt trap, The per capita debt has increased from Rs 40,904 in 2011-12 to over 65,000 in 2018. State will be required to spent 62 % of its income on debt-servicing i next 7 years. The state was required to cut down its revenue deficit to zero by 2011‑12 and maintain a revenue surplus thereafter but at the end of 2016-17, fiscal deficit at  at Rs 7,855 crore is touching 5.2% of GSDP for 2018-19.

 

What is more alarming is that borrowings are used for repayment of earlier debts, salary and pension liabilities. Out of its one Rs receipt, Rs 26.91 is spent on salary, Rs 13.83 on pension, Rs. 9.78 on interest and Rs. 9.93 on loan repayment leaving just Rs 39.55 percent for development. Worse, out of this money, a large chunk is plagiarized by middlemen and corrupt officials. No state can financially survive for long on borrowings.

In the absence of rail and air transport, roads are lifeline of the state, needs better roads. However, fund crunch leaves majority of roads in bad shape and accidents occur frequently. Road accidents have taken away as many as 29,555 lives in the State in last decade ending 2015. State has suffered a loss of more than Rs. 1,600 crore due to heavy monsoon rains and untimely snowfall in tribal areas and 343 lives were lost. Almost all roads in the sate suffered huge damages. It goes to credit of Jairam Thakur govt that maximum of roads were repaired in time.

Unfortunately, Himachal hasn't been given any big broad gauge line in the last seven decades. There are just two narrow-gauge rail lines-Shimla-Kalka and Pathankot-Jogindernagar- laid by colonial rulers before independence. Te people hope that Prime Minster Narendra Modi makes some announcement in Dharamsala grand show.

There are several unique features that have telling bearing on fiscal resources and expenditure needs of this hill state . High cost of development is among them. According to a report of Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi , submitted to 14th Finance Commission, estimation of the cost function, and subsequent computation of the sector-wise costs for health, primary and secondary education, and the roads and bridges sector, reveals that costs are about 2 to 3 times higher for hill areas as compared to plain areas.The costs in social sector, including health and education, 270% higher for hill areas as compared to plain areas. The reports says simple average of the cost mark-ups for the five hill states reveals that costs in hill areas are approximately 2.5 times or 250% higher than in plain areas.

People need speedy, reliable and targeted delivery system . It can be ensured only in a committed set-up. It was the failure of the deliver system that was responsible to overthrow the Congress govt and change the government every five year. Jairam Govt's "janmanch " could be a good step to ensure speedy delivery of services. But "Janmanch" needed to be followed up. People get disillusioned sooner than later. Himachalis are known for their honesty, simplicity and hard work . They expect their leaders to become their icons. Sadly, even a year of a common man's son rule hasn't been as inspiring. Give him some time.

Chander Sharma