Financial crisis looms; Failure of furnishing last year's UC results in holding back
Plan amount for this year
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, October 11 2012: The economy of the state has been spoilt to the roots and today it is in such a condition that if the visit of Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh to Delhi to beg for fund fails to bear fruit, Manipur is likely to experience another spell of financial crisis soon after Ningol Chakkouba festival.

Sources from State Planning and Finance Department revealed that the economy of the state is at its worst today and there is all likelihood of a severe financial disaster by the end of this year.

Sources further revealed even after passage of six months of the current fiscal year, the State Government has not been able to provide the Utilisation Certificate (UC) of the State Plan of 2011-12 to the Planning Commission, Government of India.

As such, the Planning Commission has hold back the Plan amount of the state for the financial year 2012-13 .

Such a situation has never happened in the past.

Accordingly, the state government has not been able to invest any amount in developmental programmes being taken up in different parts of the state.

Currently, the salaries as well as the medical re-imbursement of almost all the regular employees of the State Government are being paid from the non-Plan amount.

However, the salaries of the newly recruited employees of the state government including Primary Teachers, Hindi Graduate Teachers and doctors have not been paid for the last 9-10 months.

Nevertheless, the state government will be obliged to pay the salaries of these employees by next month (November) as Ningol Chakkouba, one of the biggest festivals of the state falls in this month.

After payment of the salaries of these employees, the funds from the non-plan sector, which up till today has been going on well in providing salaries to the employees, would finally be in a disturbing situation, sources added.

Even though there is a Congress led government at the Centre, it is in all likeliness would not come up to the rescue of the Congress led Ibobi Singh government in the state.

Since the Central Government is also passing through a financial crisis, the possibility of giving a special package to the state does not arise, sources observed, adding that the fate of economy of the state would be decided by the outcome of the visit of Chief Minister to Delhi.

The Chief Minister, who is presently in Delhi, is demanding the Central Government for granting an amount of Rs 1500 crores as soft loan.

If the Central government obliges to the proposal of the state government, all likelihood of a financial crisis in the state would be disappeared.

On the contrary, if the visit of the Chief Minister does not bear any fruit, then the State Government would surely plunge itself into a huge financial crisis soon after the Ningol Chakkouba, sources reiterated.

Considering the current financial situation in which the state is in; the Finance Department has taken up all possible means to save the economy of the state from any possible disaster.

In order to increase the revenue of the State, the department has instructed other departments including Electricity, Transport, Forest and Excise to collect taxes from the public at their best level, sources informed.

Sources, however, stated that, no matter how much they try, the state government would not be able to make up for the debt it has fallen into at the moment.

It has also been reported that the reason behind the State government's inability to provide UC of plan amount of the financial year 2011-12 is due to the breach of the financial discipline.

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