‘Raj didn’t incur so much debt in 67 years as Congress did in 5 years’

Jaipur, July 23 (IANS) Responding to a question put forward by BJP MLA Sandeep Sharma, Rajasthan Minister of State for Finance Manju Baghmar said in the Assembly on Tuesday that the state did not incur so much debt in 67 years as it did during the Congress’ five-year rule.”In 67 years from 1950-51 to 2017-18, the total debt of the state was Rs 2,81,182 crore. But during the tenure of the Congress government from 2018-19 to 2023-24, loans of 2,89,464 crore were taken, due to which the total debt burden on the state has now become Rs 5,70,646 crore,” Baghmar said. She also said that the percentage of debt to GSDP was 33.77 per cent in 2017-18, which increased to 37.34 per cent in 2023-24, an increase of about 4 per cent.”But after the BJP came to power, we have reduced it to 35.97 per cent in the first budget itself,” she said.The Minister also said that under the present BJP government in Rajasthan, a provision of Rs 27,660 crore has been made in the budget to strengthen the infrastructure of the medical system, which is 8.26 per cent of the total budget, more than the national average.–IANSarc/arm