Shimla, April 25
The Himachal government has sent an SOS to the Centre after finding itself in a serious financial crisis with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ordering the commercial banks not to honour the cheques of the state government as it has run into an overdraft of about Rs 180 crore.
Orders of the RBI came here last evening and the banks in the entire state have stopped clearance of the cheques issued by various departments of the state government from this morning. The government treasuries were also not clearing the bills for payment.
Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal is learnt to have talked to Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha on the telephone and sought his intervention in solving the crisis. However, Mr Sinha is understood to have stressed the need for the state government to mobilise its own resources as the financial position of the Centre was also tight.
Mr Dhumal convened a meeting of senior officers of the Finance and Planning Departments yesterday to find a way out of the crisis which has come within 24 days of the new financial year for which the Budget was passed only last month.
Sources said that besides an overdraft of nearly Rs 180 crore, the state government also has exhausted its ways and means limit of Rs 92 crore.
A senior officer of the Finance Department confirmed the action of the RBI and said that the problem had come because of the mismatch between the revenue and expenditure of the state government. A sum of Rs 400 crore was being spent every month on various counts, including Rs 150 crore on the payment of salary to the employees, besides about Rs 80 crore were being spent on pensions and wages and grant to the three universities and letters of credit (LoC).
Financial position of the state government is likely to worsen in the coming months as it has made its intentions clear of meeting financial liabilities this year by raising loans of Rs 2318 crore. Current financial year started with an opening deficit of Rs 162.70 crore.
Acute financial problems started for the state government a couple of months ago when the Planning Commission refused to pass its plan of Rs 1720 crore for this year and asked it to come with concrete proposals towards mobilising own resources. The Planning Commission refused to accept the market borrowings as a resource.
The government has already got the borrowing limit of the electricity board increased by Rs 500 crore to bail itself out of the financial crisis. The borrowing limit of the board was Rs 1500 crore and has now been increased to Rs 2000 crore.
