Chhattisgarh pushes for easing terms attached to hike in state borrowings

Says Centre's economic package is not enough, and states are also finding it diffcult to raise additional resources given the stringent conditions

Asserting that the economic package announced by the Centre is insufficient to revive the economy, Chhattisgarh had demanded easing the conditions imposed on state borrowings.

The Centre last month allowed the states to increase their borrowing limits from three per cent of their GSDPs to five per cent on fulfillment of certain conditions. “The states are unable to avail the benefit of additional borrowing limit due to non-fulfillment of conditions and norms,” Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel wrote to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The states should be allowed to avail the additional borrowing limit of two per cent without any conditions, he urged. The scarcity of the resources remain unchanged for the states even as its responsibility has increased as economic packages announced by the Centre following Corona crisis and nationwide lockdown are insufficient to revive the economy and meet the needs of the common people, Baghel added. 

In view of the present crisis, it is the priority of the states to provide free food grains to the poor families, salary to the employees and proper health facilities for all, Baghel said in his letter. To provide relief to the people of the state, it is necessary to take prompt and effective action in this direction along with additional financial resources, he added.

The automation of fair price shops including installation of POS machines in the thickly forested and inaccessible terrains of 14 Naxal-infested districts is a difficult target for the state to achieve. Similarly, there are many technical hurdles in implementing the DBT system by ending the power subsidy being given to farmers in the agrarian state, Baghel said, adding that although these reforms were quite important but the timing was not appropriate for its implementation.