States must stick to own fiscal management policies: Saraswat

Niti Aayog today said states will have to come up with their own fiscal management policies in order to implement government schemes in a balanced manner.
"If there's a burden of 35 years of misrule what can we (Niti Ayog) do," Niti Ayog member Vijay Kumar Saraswat told reporters on the sidelines of an interactive session organised by the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce.
He was referring to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's demand for some respite in interest payments for legacy debt, at least in the form of moratorium.
According to Sarswat, "tweaking" of various central projects has to be done within the framework and states need to prioritise accordingly for the right balance through fiscal management.

Asked whether Niti Aayog recognised that the debt burden issue of some states like West Bengal would hamper the rolling out of central plans, he said, "We are aware of that (debt burden of states). And so you have to tweak these plans. If a father has left his child with debt what does the child do? He works hard to repay and does not go to a neighbour to repay."
Asked for a timeline of the ongoing study for loss-making units, he said the study was still on.