Goa: Khaunte demands Action Taken Report on last year's budget

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Former revenue minister and Independent MLA Rohan Khaunte on Friday demanded that Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant present an Action Taken Report (ATR) on the budget 2019-20, on the first day of the Assembly session.

The five-day winter session of the Goa Assembly is scheduled to begin on February 4, when the Chief Minister is expected to present the state budget for the next fiscal.

Addressing a press conference here, Khaunte also said Sawant should present an ATR on the assurances given by him on the floor of the House during the monsoon Assembly session held in August last year.

"We also want Sawant to present an ATR on the budget which was presented by him on the floor of the House last year," the former minister said.

People should know how many of the assurances given by the Chief Minister in the Assembly are fulfilled and what percentage of the budget he had presented last year has become a reality, he said.

"Former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had set a precedent of tabling an ATR on the budget. He had also said every year, an ATR would be presented before the people of the state," he said.

Considering the government went on a borrowing spree, the Chief Minister should also present a 'white paper' on the state's financial condition, he claimed.

During its tenure, the Sawant-led government has borrowed around Rs 2,000 crore for capital expenditure, but the money is actually being used to pay the salaries of government servants in the absence of revenue resources, the MLA alleged.

Khaunte also alleged that development in the state has come to standstill, as bills worth crores of rupees of various contractors are pending with the government.