Vijayawada: Yanamala seeks Fiscal Council to curb FRBM violations

Vijayawada: TDP politburo member Yanamala Ramakrishnudu on Monday demanded the government to form a state-level 'Fiscal Council' to check the alleged budget mismanagement and prevent the financial crisis from going out of control.

Ramakrishnudu said if immediate steps were not taken for checking fiscal indiscipline, the state would get stuck in an irretrievable financial crisis. A high level review should be held on the AP government's failures and transgressions. The budget rules should be implemented properly.

The former finance minister said the Review Committee of Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) had asked all the state governments to form Fiscal Councils but AP had not complied with it so far. This council would ensure the expenditure of public funds in accordance with the budgetary allocations approved in the state Assembly.

In a statement here, the Opposition Leader in Council said that AP had become the worst example of fiscal irresponsibility and budget mismanagement under the YSRCP rule. The Chief Minister disregarded the budgetary allocations and was not following the rules.

He termed it as unconstitutional that the government passed the budget in a single day without taking up a discussion.

The budget allocations in AP had become farcical. The Fiscal Council would check such violations and diversion of public funds.

The developed countries and developing economies around the world have already acknowledged the importance of Fiscal Councils, he said.

Ramakrishnudu deplored transgressions in the last 32 months of Jagan Mohan Reddy rule. He said funds had been indiscriminately diverted and the budget manual frowned upon. The FRBM guidelines and the basic constitutional norms had been ignored.

He said because of the reckless policies of the YSRCP government, the supplementary grants might exceed the original budget allocations in future.

The rule for supplementary grants not to exceed 10 per cent was violated. There was no development as the ruling party's corruption scams and misuse of public funds overwhelmed the state economy, he alleged.

The senior TDP leader said not even one fourth of capital expenditure was spent in the first six months of the 2020-21 budget. Less than Rs 6,711 crore was spent against the allocated Rs 31,198 crore. The expenditure on irrigation and medical and health was nominal.