State struggling with lower tax revenues
Chandigarh: The social security liabilities have doubled this fiscal, thanks to the poll sops being offered by the SAD-BJP government to appease various sections of voters. But what is worrying Finance Department officials is the slow growth of revenue to fund these “poll-time welfare measures”.
While the social security pension bill of the government has almost doubled – from Rs 540 crore last year to Rs 1,100 crore now after the pensions were doubled to Rs 500 per month per pensioner, the state is struggling to keep its cash registers running by raking in more taxes through higher VAT, excise collections, electricity duty, stamps and property registration.
The latest figures reveal that while VAT collections are up by 7 per cent over the corresponding period last year, all other components of states own tax revenues are showing a decline.
While the state has earned Rs 6,036 crore as VAT collections till August 15 this year (as compared to Rs 5,669 crore during the same period last year), an increase of 6.47 percent, the excise collections have dipped from Rs 1,693 crore till August 15 last year to Rs 1,632 crore now.
The state has set a target to collect Rs 18,150 crore as VAT this year. With the second quarter of the current financial year about to end in September, it seems unlikely that the VAT collections will meet the halfway mark of Rs 9,000 crore.
Though the largest head in the state’s own tax revenue is dwindling, the expenditure is on the rise. Other than doubling of pension for various categories of people, the Akali-BJP government has also given relaxations in VAT and power tariff to appease various sections.
Even the burden of the new Atta-Dal scheme, where the state has added over 16 lakh new individual beneficiaries (total beneficiaries now stand at 1.07 crore individuals), the budget for distributing wheat and daal to the beneficiaries is up from Rs 700 crore to Rs 800 crore this year.
Finance Department sources say the fresh recruitment being done by the government will add to the salary bill. But with elections round the corner, the political bosses seem unwilling to take the path of fiscal prudence.
