Meghalaya in debt traps due to TMC’s proposed cash fund schemes

Shillong: Describing pre-poll cash promises by parties as “debt traps”, Meghalaya Chief Minister and NPP chief Conrad K Sangma on Thursday warned people to “fall prey to such tricks”. Warned against.Taking aim at the opposition TMC, which claimed that its two schemes had received a huge response, Sangma said Bengal’s debt had only increased over the years because of the TMC’s cash transfer schemes.
He termed the ‘We Card’ (for women) and ‘Meghalaya Youth Empowerment (MYE) Card’ schemes as TMC’s ‘Baaki’ (credit) card, showing that the party, if elected If so, it can shift the burden on the state treasury.

“They do not realize that such interventions, if made, will put the state in a debt trap, which has already happened in West Bengal,” the CM said in a statement.
“Bengal’s ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ scheme has been rebranded as ‘Hum Card’. The TMC government in West Bengal has a per capita debt of around Rs 59,000 in 2022-23, and the scheme is one of the reasons “Yes,” he said.

According to the Chief Minister, West Bengal’s accumulated debt for 2022-23 is expected to increase from Rs 5.28 lakh crore to Rs 5.86 lakh crore as on March 31, 2022.

Terming the TMC’s promises as “hollow”, the NPP chief urged the people of Meghalaya to shun such assurances.
He said that with such huge debts, it is clear that the TMC will also push the state into a debt trap, leaving the people of the state to bear the brunt.

The TMC on Wednesday claimed to have received over 3.5 lakh registrations for its ‘We Card’ scheme.