DIMAPUR, MARCH 28 (MExN): Leader of the Opposition, TR Zeliang, while referring to the budget discussion of March 26, on point of order, has sought clarification from Nagaland Chief Minister, Neiphiu Rio to furnish what it termed as ‘correct reconciled deficit figures’ as on March 31, 2014, against 2013-14.
In a letter addressed to the Speaker, Nagaland Legislative Assembly, Zeliang on Wednesday said it was most unfortunate that the budget was passed without furnishing the deficit figure and clarification in the house.
According to Zeliang, the figure of deficit mentioned in the Governor’s address was only a projected amount and not the confirmed figure of 2013-2014 from Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
It also chastised the Speaker that his observation on the contradictory statement given by the Leader of the House on the subject in question has created confusion in the minds of the members both in Opposition and the Treasury.
In this connection, the Leader of the Opposition requested the Speaker to direct the Chief Minister to “reconcile the accurate deficit figure at the earliest and bring to the notice of all the members and the people of Nagaland and order to clear the cloud and maintain accountability and transparency.”
It may be recalled that on March 26, Zeliang has objected to what he termed as “wrong and misleading figures” of projected budget deficits given in the Governor and the Chief Minister’s budget speeches on March 22 and 23 respectively.
Zeliang also protested over the projection in the Governor’s speech that the budgetary deficit has sky rocketed by almost 75% from Rs 950 crore in 2014 to Rs 1657 crore as on March 31, 2017. He had argued that the two speeches had made wrong projections indicating that his (Zeliang) tenure in the previous DAN government was responsible for a huge deficit with a jump of almost 75%. Zeliang said this was totally wrong and contrary to official figures.
