States: Madhya Pradesh: Heading for Bankruptcy

India Today, March 15, 1999
March 15, 1999

MADHYA PRADESH
Heading for Bankruptcy

Chief Minister Digvijay Singh is faced with an unprecedented financial crisis that stems from the please-all policies of his earlier tenure.

By N K Singh

When Digvijay Singh led the Congress to victory against all odds last November, it was a toast to his skills as a political manager. Even the opposition grudgingly acknowledged the Madhya Pradesh chief minister's survival instincts.

But a good political manager does not necessarily mean a good administrator. As he starts his second innings, Digvijay is realising that the soft state he led for five years may now cost him dearly. His propensity to please all and dole out largesse has landed him with an unprecedented financial crisis.

The result of the Government's profligacy is that development work in the state has come to a standstill. Water Resources Minister Ramchandra Singhdeo admits as much: "Almost my entire budget is spent on salaries and maintenance. Little money is left for projects." Such is the situation that a white paper brought out by the Finance Department last month admits that rising expenditure had pushed the state to the brink of a "debt trap".

If the white paper was intended as a warning, then the Government seems to have ignored it in its budget for 1999-2000. Says the BJP's Gauri Shanker Shejwar, leader of the Opposition: "No one seems to be bothered. After all, it is the taxpayers' money." Digvijay, of course, claims that the crisis this year is due to recession resulting in revenue loss, as well as the implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission. The white paper points out that 58 per cent of the state's total revenue is spent on salaries, allowances and pensions. Add office maintenance, vehicles and petrol, and the establishment cost in most departments amounts to a staggering three-fourths of total expenses.

If anything, Digvijay has himself to blame. Instead of trimming the bureaucracy, the Government launched a drive to fill vacancies in the reserved categories, giving "special appointments" to those who pulled the right strings and "mercy appointments" to the wards of employees who died in service. Ask Digvijay about downsizing, and he counters, "Can any government really do it?"

Though it blames rising expenses, the white paper glosses over Digvijay's populist measures that are draining the exchequer. Last year, on the eve of elections, the Government waived off agricultural loans in Tawa and Chambal regions, distributed seeds and loans to defaulting farmers, regularised encroachments by 20 lakh slum-dwellers and created 23 new districts. It also spent Rs 1.10 crore in excess of budgetary allocations on advertisements in an election year.

Free power to farmers, announced by Digvijay at the start of his earlier tenure, has cost the state electricity board Rs 1,850 crore per annum. It was also during his first tenure that Digvijay, to keep all factions happy, conferred ministerial status on 180 politicians in the 320-member Assembly. Unofficial figures put the cost of each minister at over Rs 1 lakh per month.

Given this extravagance in the face of bankruptcy, austerity is alien to Digvijay's ministers and officials. Apart from the cost of upkeep of their bungalows, telephones, electricity, water and entertainment, the ministers spent Rs 1.49 crore flying in the state aircraft last year. But that's nothing compared to the travel bills of Digvijay. who seems to spend most of his waking hours flying. In 1998, the chief minister spent on an average Rs 26,000 per day on air travel -- in December alone he was airborne practically every second day.

Like master, like public servant. The Government employs more than 1.15 lakh workers on daily wages. It is an open secret that this army of minions works mostly in the bungalows of the "burra sahibs" -- the number of "servants" directly proportional to the babu's rank. One particular officer has 18 servants. As for the misuse of official vehicles, the story is the same.

The state Government maintains a full-fledged office in Delhi, spending over Rs 3 crore every year. Besides, most departments too maintain liaison offices in the national capital. The rationale being that it would curtail the officials' visit to Delhi. But as Finance Minister Ajay Narayan Mushran concedes, "They used to fly to Raipur via Delhi because there is no direct flight between Raipur and Bhopal." He has since banned such travel. Says Mushran: "We will shortly be taking some hard decisions."

That, it would appear, is only paying lip service to promised austerity. Even Governor Bhai Mahavir, who has been publicly critical of the Government's extravagance, threw his principles to the winds last week. His requisitioning of an ac luxury rail saloon for travelling to Rewa was the first by a state VIP in over a decade. The cost of the two-way journey: Rs 1.99 lakh. That's not all, an extra bedroom and a basement being constructed in the Raj Bhavan will cost the state Rs 88 lakh. Apparently, in Madhya Pradesh, when it comes to public money, no one cares.

Issue Contents | Write to us | Subscriptions | Syndication