Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari today said the SAD-BJP government in the state owed an explanation to the people of Punjab over the financial mess they have created in the state.
The consequences were obvious and the state is not even able to make routine payments, he said.
"These are all potent symptoms of bankruptcy," he remarked.
Giving details, Tewari pointed out that the total state debt according to the government's own figures is likely to cross one lakh crore rupees by the end of this fiscal.
75 lakh crore is not just alarming, but a potential indicator towards bankruptcy, he said, adding that when the SAD-BJP alliance took over in 2007 the total debt was about Rs 47,800 crore, which is now being projected to cross Rs one lakh crore from its own estimates.
"Five years seems enough for them to push the state to debt trap," he said.
Tewari stressed that between 2002 and 2007, the Congress government tried to control the borrowings and the state's debt increased by about Rs 15,000 crore, an increase of only 47 per cent.
