Punjab is the top borrowing state, with a debt of 44.1 percent more than its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). There are 15 other states in the country, including Punjab, which have borrowed more than their GDP. These states are borrowing record amounts to fulfill their election promises. Their GDP Punjab is at the forefront of borrowing more than the state with 44.1 percent, while Himachal Pradesh has 42.5 percent, Arunachal Pradesh has 40.1 percent, Nagaland has 38.6 percent, Meghalaya has 37.6 percent, West Bengal has 36.9 percent, Rajasthan has 36 percent, Bihar has 35.7 percent, Manipur has 34.5 percent, Kerala has 34 percent, Uttar Pradesh has 32.7 percent, Madhya Pradesh has 32 percent, Tripura has 24.5 percent and Sikkim has 24 percent.
Political parties have launched a flurry of free schemes for the Delhi Assembly elections. If we look at the track record of the impact of these election campaigns on the economy of the states after the elections, it is clear that the parties which came to power on the basis of subsidies and guarantees are now forced to fulfill their election promises by taking loans from the market. For example, the Karnataka government needs an additional amount of Rs 60,000 crore to fulfill the 5 guarantees given during the elections. Madhya Pradesh will need Rs 24,000 crore every year for the ‘Ladli Behna’ scheme alone. 25 percent of Telangana’s total income is going to fulfill the 6 guarantees. There are 15 states in India whose debt to GDP ratio is more than 30 percent. There are 10 states in the country that will have to borrow Rs 4.73 lakh crore from the market in the next 3 months. These states have borrowed Rs 3.46 lakh crore in the middle of the current financial year. Accordingly, these states will have to borrow Rs 9.20 lakh crore for the entire year during the current financial year. This will create a new record of debt, which is 28.7 percent more than the debt of the previous year. These states have borrowed Rs 6.51 lakh crore despite the exemption during Corona. Karnataka will borrow the most Rs 48,000 crore in the next 3 months, Tamil Nadu is preparing to borrow Rs 45,000 crore and Telangana is preparing to borrow another Rs 30,000 crore.
These states have borrowed Rs 9.20 lakh crore till November during 2024-25, while last year they borrowed Rs 7.17 lakh crore, 5.18 lakh crore during 2022-2023, 4.92 lakh crore in 2021-2022 and Rs 6.51 lakh crore during 2020-21. However, there are two opinions regarding subsidies, one section says that subsidies are not needed, while the other section is in favor of giving subsidies only to the needy. But there is no point in giving the benefit of subsidy to everyone. There are also many people who are taking advantage of subsidies by getting fake documents prepared. Even more dead people are eating government food grains and facts of treatment in many hospitals in the name of the dead have also come to light.
The Punjab government has to take a loan of several thousand crores every year to provide 300 units of free electricity to households and agricultural tubewells. 23 percent of the total revenue of the Punjab government goes to paying the interest on the loan. Due to financial constraints, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab is not yet fulfilling its guarantee of giving Rs 1000 to women during the elections, whereas it has promised to give Rs 2500 per month to women in Delhi. Congress and BJP are also not far behind. Both the parties have promised to give Rs 2500 per month to women when they come to power. In fact, elections are being won by wearing the cloak of facilities and guarantees, the real issues are being buried under the lure of guarantees. Political parties have found a way to deceive the poor and take unfair advantage of their needs. But it is a bitter truth that the burden of subsidies is directly falling on the common people.
It has been seen that the Congress government, which started the subsidy, was defeated in 1997. After this, the Akali-BJP government also lost in the next elections and then the Congress lost in 2007 and in 2017 the Akali-BJP coalition government also lost the assembly elections. Then the Congress also faced defeat in 2022. Here it is clear from this example that there is no direct connection between free facilities and which party will win next time. Therefore, the Punjab government should make efforts to increase revenue instead of taking on debt.
