New Delhi: The Union Finance Ministry’s decision to highlight their concerns over rising borrowings of some Indian states at an all-party meeting on Tuesday on the Sri Lankan crisis was strongly opposed by lawmakers from opposition-ruled states, ThePrint has learned.
At the meeting, the parties – which included the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) – discussed what India was doing as the center of financial health of the states. questioned the context. To help Sri Lanka, which is going through its worst economic crisis in decades, several opposition lawmakers who attended the meeting told ThePrint.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth made presentations at the all-party meeting on the political and foreign policy turmoil and the island nation’s debt situation.
The meeting was called after appeals for India’s intervention from southern parties including AIADMK and DMK. Leaders of 28 parties participated in the briefing, in which eight ministers of the central government were present.
According to lawmakers, the mention of state debt came when Seth was discussing Sri Lanka’s debt in his presentation.
Speaking to ThePrint, Trinamool Congress MP from West Bengal Saugata Roy, who was at the meeting, said, Referring to Sri Lanka’s huge debt, the Economic Affairs Secretary said that some states in India like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Punjab also have a similar problem with increased borrowings. We strongly opposed it. What is the point of mentioning the financial burden of the states while discussing the Sri Lanka crisis?
Communist Party of India (Marxist) Rajya Sabha MP from Kerala Elaram Karim alleged that the Center was deliberately trying to defame the states. “Instead of referring to their own financial health, why is the Center talking about the increasing debt burden of the states in the context of Sri Lanka? What are they trying to prove?”
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi told ThePrint that the presentation was deliberately targeting certain states.
He also quoted Jaishankar as saying that he had seen “misinformed comparisons” between Sri Lanka and India. To this Owaisi said that he said that Sri Lanka is in this position because the Rajapaksa government tried to suppress the data.
“I asked if the Modi government could immediately release data on the percentage of job losses and child labor in India,” he told ThePrint.
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‘Highly stressed states’
The stressed finances of some state governments have gained importance since the assembly elections held in March, which saw promises of freebies; For example, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which came to power in Punjab, had promised 300 units of free electricity to every household in the state.
on one meeting In Dharamsala from June 15 to 17 with chief secretaries of states, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Finance Secretary TV Somanathan made several suggestions to help states improve their finances.Including “rationalization of schemes and autonomous bodies and measures to reduce inefficient subsidies”.
These suggestions come after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a detailed statement study It was highlighted last month that at least 10 states have seen a slowdown in their own tax revenues, a high share of committed expenditure and rising subsidy burden. The report said that these had aggravated finances which were already severely strained by Covid-19.
The “highly stressed” states, according to the study, are Bihar, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Most of these states have exceeded their debt levels set by the 15th Finance Commission, the study said.
India ‘worried’ by ‘unprecedented’ situation
A third lawmaker from a southern state said on condition of anonymity that Jaishankar also told lawmakers that India is helping Sri Lanka with humanitarian aid, but cannot directly interfere in the political affairs of another sovereign country. .
“He added that India is on the board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and would support Sri Lanka in working with such international agencies. He said that India will try to help Sri Lanka through diplomatic route,” the MP said.
The MP said Jaishankar described the situation in Sri Lanka as “unprecedented” and added that India is concerned about it.
AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi said he had also inquired whether the Indian government would deny Rajapaksa entry into India – and if so, why – and whether the National Security Adviser (Ajit Doval) allowed Rajapaksa’s visit to the Maldives and Singapore. facility was provided.
“The External Affairs Minister denied this,” Owaisi said, adding that the “endemic” neglect of its minorities by Sri Lanka was an issue that should not be forgotten.
Referring to the suicide attacks in Colombo in 2019, he said, “I also told the ministers that we should not forget the ISIS-like Easter bombings in Sri Lanka.”
“Muslims and Tamils are not part of the new regime, and if any of this turns into violence, their ethnic ties with Tamil Nadu could heat up. In that context, I also asked whether India would work for an inclusive government in Sri Lanka. He added.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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