AP to release 7 white papers; state stares at Rs 50,000 crore arrears?

HYDERABAD: The Jagamohan Reddy government has decided to release seven white papers on various sectors, including one on the financial position of Andhra Pradesh. Following reports that the state’s finances are in doldrums, the government carried out an investigation and found that the previous TDP government had left behind Rs 50,000 crore arrears.
Among the stakeholders are hospitals and power utilities.
Highly-placed sources in AP government told TOI that several government bill payments were stopped and money was used for non-priority purposes. “Chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy and a team of financial experts studied the financial position and the purported mismanagement by the previous TDP regime. The arrears will be around Rs 50,000 crore,” the sources said.
Experts said the financial mess is a big challenge to Jagan, considering that he was keen to implement his ‘Navaratnalu’ promise made during the assembly elections. The YSR Congress Party has been alleging that the previous TDP government had emptied the state exchequer and spent public funds on wasteful expenditure.
However, refuting the charges, former vice-chairman of AP Planning Board C Kutumba Rao said that they released a white paper in February 2018 on the state’s finances. “The total debt was Rs 2.16 lakh crore and ran arrears to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore which, for any government, is normal given that it had to execute ongoing projects and welfare schemes,” he told TOI.
He wondered if the situation is so bad and that it has no money, “how did the current government pay salaries and pensions in May and June. “Senior bureaucrats worked on the white paper and released it in February last year. How can they fudge the figures? The YSRC government’s figure of Rs 50,000 crore arrears is false.”