Plea in HC asks for white paper on India’s foreign debt

Nagpur: A petitioner has urged the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court to issue directives to the central government to publish a white paper on the growing foreign debt on the country. Citing various examples, former chairman of Nagpur University’s Mass Communication Board Sunil Mishra pointed out that the loan problem is very serious and needs urgent attention.
A division bench comprising justices Ravi Deshpande and Vinay Joshi adjourned the hearing till July 30 after assistant solicitor general Ulhas Aurangabadkar assured to seek union finance ministry’s guidance in this regard.
The demand for publishing a white paper was made in the plea (WP No 4941/2017) where Mishra also sought directives to the central government to issue him a certificate as a ‘foreign-debt-free citizen of India”.
Appearing in person, Mishra pointed out that Indian citizens are not only empowered to question the acts of the government but also entitled to seek factual information regarding its working, as per Articles 220 and 221 of the Constitution of India and Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The petitioner said all major companies of the government, like BSNL, Air India and railways, are under huge debts. Similarly, even states are in huge debts and maximum revenue is spent in interest payments. Therefore, there’s an urgent need to publish the white paper on foreign debts, so that every taxpayer citizen knows how their hard-earned money is being spent by the government.
According to Mishra, every citizen is an integral of the country and wants its betterment. The government has time and again availed debt from foreign countries to use funds towards the growth of the country. However, all this money is repaid through the tax payer’s pocket.
The petitioner is a tax paying citizen, and he has been taking steps to realize the ultimate goal of making India debt-free. The debt for the year 2017-18 has reached an enormous level of Rs2,43,408.50 crore, he said.
Mishra said the government is constituted through its citizens and every citizen is a cardinal component of the nation. The fiscal loans of the country are paid off through citizen’s money. In every respect, every citizen has right to inquire about the actions of the government, because it involves their money, he said.
(With inputs from Anchal Bhatia)