NDTV Exclusive: Punjab Expert At Clearing Debt: Bhagwant Mann On Fiscal Deficit

Punjab's fiscal deficit is smaller than that of states like Uttar Pradesh or Gujarat and is spending the money on worthwhile projects, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann told NDTV today. Punjab has a fiscal deficit of 4.5 per cent in place of the 3.5 cap the Centre has advised. In an exclusive interview with NDTV CEO and Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal, Mann said Punjab does not like to "keep anyone's debts" and would ensure that the state repays its loans from the projects it spent the money on. 

This, he said, is even though most of the debts were inherited from the erstwhile Congress government.

"The previous government left behind 3.5 lakh crore. But where did they spend that 3.5 lakh crore? I am building roads, I am fixing government schools, I am giving money to universities, I am clearing the debt of the electricity board, I am building hospitals... I am giving jobs," he said. 

"Where did they spend and leave? One of our finance ministers (Manpreet Badal)... For nine years he kept saying the same thing: "The treasury is empty, the treasury is empty, the treasury is empty." I said, if it is empty, why do you call it a treasury? Call it a container (peepa)," he said.

This massive debt and the lack of development, he added, is also the reason the people are migrating.

"My current finance minister just came and sat here with you. We have never said the treasury is empty. We have openly given the public's money to the public," he added.

Asked about the criticism that the AAP government has given to the people more than they had, thus hiking the deficit, he said there are "two types loans".

"If you are taking a loan to buy a truck, then the truck will earn and clear the loan. If you take a loan to buy a motorcycle and a big car for your son, then your debt will double or triple," he said. 

"We, the people of Punjab, do not keep anyone's debt on our heads. Punjab is an expert at clearing debt. Even if someone has done a little favor for Punjabis, Punjabis repay that debt too. But because of the previous governments, because of the system, we went into a bit of debt, but Punjab will come back," he added.