Congress cites CAG report on states’ debt, accuses centre of 'coercive federalism'

NEW DELHI: Expressing interest implicit the appreciable leap successful states’ indebtedness highlighted by the CAG, Congress said the nationalist indebtedness of states has tripled successful the past decade, rising from Rs 17.57 lakh crore successful 2013 to Rs 59.60 lakh crore successful 2022.

The enactment said the states are victims of “coercive federalism” being followed by the Modi authorities which is not sharing revenues with them arsenic desired, accusing the centre of playing “cess politics”.AICC spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala said the nationalist indebtedness of states present amounts to 23% of the combined GSDP of 28 states, but the states are being stripped of their fiscal independency done the Modi government’s handling of the GST Compensation Cess and arbitrary cardinal levies.

He said this has resulted successful “double jeopardy” for states of mounting indebtedness and shrinking revenues.“Rs 1,70,000 crore is collected each twelvemonth from ‘cesses and surcharges’, but the centre keeps it without sharing thing with states. ‘Compensation Cess’ was created to wage the states for GST losses, which ended successful June 2022. Now, the aforesaid cess is lone utilized to repay Central loans. Beyond Oct 2025, determination is nary law mandate to proceed with it, yet the Centre wants to clasp it exclusively,” helium said, demanding that the Centre stock the cess with the states for the coming 10 years.

Surjewala said determination appears to beryllium a deliberate effort to cripple the states and hollow retired their functionality, to unionise powerfulness successful the hands of the Centre. “This is ‘coercive federalism’ that seeks to person the states into ‘glorified municipal committees’,” helium added.The Congress MP warned that station complaint cuts, GST collections volition dip steeply successful the future, with the shortfall apt to beryllium Rs 40,000 crore arsenic per the Centre and Rs 80,000 crore arsenic per the SBI, portion different estimates peg it astatine Rs 1.5-2.5 lakh crore. “The states volition suffer fractional oregon much of this, but neither GST nor Cess volition travel to them,” helium said.