With criticism from opposition PDP and even NC led government’s own ally Congress mounting over increased burden of loans pushing UT into a debt trap, a fresh political confrontation has erupted over Jammu and Kashmir’s fiscal record, with former Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu taking to social media to rebut what he described as an attempt to “misrepresent the past to justify the present.”
Citing figures from the government’s own “Budget at a Glance 2026–27,” Drabu pointed out that when the PDP-BJP government assumed office in 2014–15, the public debt-to-GSDP ratio stood at 28.67 percent. By 2018–19, when that government fell, the ratio had declined to 27.21 percent.
“Debt was reduced. Total liabilities to GDP remained constant,” Drabu stated, referencing Table 10, Page 26 of the budget document.He asserted that the figures reflect a reduction in the debt burden relative to the size of the economy and challenged the prevailing narrative around fiscal deterioration.
“Happy to discuss, in public or private, all the budgets from 2015 to 2018 — the integrity of every number and the credibility of the fiscal balance,” Drabu wrote, signaling openness to a detailed fiscal debate.
On the contentious SASCI mechanism, Drabu clarified that he does not believe it would automatically lead to debt build-up or a debt trap. “Leveraged well, it could deleverage the government,” he noted, indicating conditional support for the framework if executed prudently.
Drabu’s intervention has intensified the ongoing political debate over fiscal management, debt sustainability, and transparency in Jammu and Kashmir. With budget documents now being cited line by line, the battle over economic credibility appears set to sharpen further in the days ahead.
Apart from PDP’s Waheed Parra who raised this issue vociferously in the House few days back, J&K Pradesh Congress Committee chief Tariq Hamid Karra also alleged that loans under SASCI scheme are like treading a dangerous path. “The loans under SASCI schemes are pushing J&K into debt trap”< he said adding “why seek loans when Rs 1 Lakh cr remains unspent in the budget….future generations will bear the burden of today’s debts….”.
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