Mumbai, Mar 12: The ruling Shiv Sena-BJP alliance government on Thursday strongly justified the recent reappropriation of funds and made it clear that the state's economic condition was satisfactory.Chief minister Manohar Joshi at a press meet on Wednesday refuted the opposition's allegations that the state was becoming bankrupt and the government had no funds to even make regular payment to its employees.
Deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde also pooh-poohed the opposition's claim that the government wanted to use funds mobilised under the golden small savings scheme for the payment of salaries. He also said the financial condition of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, an autonomous undertaking, was in good shape. On the Srikrishna Commission report on 1992-93 Mumbai riots, Joshi said his government was keen to table the report in the forthcoming budget session of the state legislature.
He, however, added that the date for tabling the highly sensitive document was yet to be finalised by the cabinet.He said his government had sought legal opinion on whether it was mandatory for attaching action-taken-report (ATR) along with the main report. "If the house expressed its desire to see the report without ATR attached to it, the government would consider such an eventuality," Joshi added. He said the government would hold discussion with the opposition if any technical difficulty cropped up in tabling the report without ATR. Asked whether the report would be debated in the house, Joshi said a decision would be taken if the opposition demanded a discussion on it. Munde said the Shiv-Sena has extended unconditional support to BJP for formation of a government at the centre.
He added that the Sena chief Bal Thackeray wrote a letter extending unconditional support to Atal Behari Vajpayee yesterday. He said the Sena, which has six members in the newly constituted Lok Sabha, would be given ministerial berth in the BJP-led government.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
