AITC Vice-President and former Union Finance Minister Shri Yashwant Sinha today gave his personal assurance as far as the three schemes of Goa TMC are concerned and said that he will ensure that all 3 are implemented as soon as Goa TMC forms the government. Addressing the media for the first time in Goa, Shri Sinha spoke not just about the feasibility of the three welfare schemes launched by Goa TMC, namely – ‘Griha Laxmi’, ‘Yuva Shakti’ and ‘Mhaje Ghar, Maalki Hakk’ but also elaborated on the source of funds and maintained that there would be no additional burden on taxpayers nor will the state have to incur another loan to implement these schemes. Goa TMC State Vice-President Shri Rajendra Kakodkar and Goa TMC General Secretary Smt Swati Kerkar were also part of the press conference that was held at the party office in Panaji.
Right at the onset, Shri Yashwant Sinha took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi by asking for a teleprompter leaving the media in splits.
Shri Yashwant Sinha then explained in detail how the funds for these three schemes will be raised. He said, ‘These three schemes together will cost about Rs 3,330 crores. In terms of the norms which have been fixed by the Finance Commission and the Reserve Bank of India, Goa already has an additional fiscal space of Rs 2,100 crores. So, that leaves us with Rs 1,200 crores, and in a budget of Rs 25,000 crores, this amount can easily be found out and spent on these welfare schemes.’
Answering all queries on whether these schemes would add to the loan already taken by the state, Shri Sinha confirmed, ‘We will take out money for these schemes from the existing budget. They will be no additional taxes levied on taxpayers nor will we take any additional loan to implement these schemes. Our endeavour will be to reduce the burden rather than add to it. In fact, I’ve often been called a fiscal terrorist by opponents since I have been very strict about fiscal control.’
Commenting on the dire need for such schemes, Shri Sinha said, ‘Who wouldn’t want a house of their own? The youth are being given a credit of Rs 20 lakhs so they can invest in start-ups or their own business and women will get funds in their own hands via Griha Laxmi.’
He added that Goa TMC will focus on sustainable agriculture and sustainable mining both of which are crucial for Goa’s economy. ‘While other states have made progress, we are slipping behind. We will ensure that farmers here get all the assistance they need for scientific and sustainable farming. Also, there has to be a network of food processing units in Goa apart from fishing. We will ensure that Goa becomes a magnet for food processing.’
Lambasting the BJP for the term ‘double engine’, he said, ‘Sometimes in ‘Double Engine’ Governments it is possible that one engine goes in one direction, and the other in another direction. On a serious note, I want to mention that if the Central Government of the BJP is trying to emphasize on wanting to run Double Engine Governments then all they want is to run a dictatorship. Because this means that they don’t want any other party to run any government. Today, they are talking about double engine with respect to state government, tomorrow they will talk about triple engine with respect to Panchayats. How will this work?’
Ending the press conference with a personal assurance, Shri Sinha said, ‘I take full responsibility for these schemes and I’ll ensure that these schemes are implemented, whether I’ve to sit 3-6 months here in Goa after our Government is formed.’
