Jana slams TRS Govt over rising debts

Leader of Opposition in Telangana State Legislative Assembly K. Jana Reddy asked the State Government to maintain required balance between assets and loans. Else, he said that the Telangana State would face a severe financial crisis.

Participating in the discussion on State's budget for 2017-18 in Assembly on Thursday, Jana Reddy pointed out that from 1956 to 1994, the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh had more assets and less liabilities. However, he said that from 1994 to 2000, the State's debts increased by more than double the assets. He said the government takes loans to create assets. However, when the debts surpass the value of assets, the State runs into problems and he feared that the Telangana State was on the verge of losing balance between the two.

Jana Reddy said that the budget presented by Finance Minister Eatala Rajender was not reflective of State's actual financial position. He said budget figures were highly inflated and the government would have to stop several schemes and projects if it fails to get the projected revenues. He said despite failure to implement the projected budget for the last three years, this year too, the budget has been increased by almost 30%. He said a rich State like Gujarat which has a population of nearly six crore people presented a budget of just Rs. 1.71 lakh crore this year although it had spent about Rs. 1.46 lakh crore last year.

The Congress leader said that the State Government would be able to spend not more than Rs. 1.12 lakh crore this year. Therefore, with an increase of about 14%, the realistic budget should have been of Rs. 1.28 lakh crore. However, he said that the TRS Government presented a budget of Rs. 1.49 lakh crore. He said that the figures pertaining to central grants have been over estimated.

Jana Reddy said that while the budget figures have been touching the sky, the State Government has failed to fulfill the basic needs of common people. He said that the agriculture sector was in deep crisis. As against the food grains productions of 1.7 lakh tonnes in 2013-14, the last year of Congress regime, the production came down to 72,000 tonnes after TRS Government took over in 2014-15. Second year it came down to 51,000 Tonnes and in third year it was 77,000 Tonnes. Similarly, the net irrigated area too registered a steep decline.

As against the claims of State having a surplus budget of nearly Rs. 3,000 crore, Jana Reddy said that the Comptroller & Auditor General of India clearly pointed out the State was in a deficit of over Rs. 4,000 crore. He said there was no progress in industrialisation and creation of new jobs.

Jana Reddy said that the State Government did not concrete to implement the promise of giving 12% reservation to Muslims and STs. Similarly, he said that the government would need Rs. 1.5 lakh crore to construct sanctioned 2.6 lakh double bed room houses and another Rs. 1 lakh crore to provide three acres of land for Dalit families. He asked the government to clarify as to how it proposes to raise funds for these schemes. He also demanded transparency in execution of irrigation projects and asked the government to place Detailed Project Reports (DPR) of all projects in public domain.

He also raised doubts over the implementation of plans for the development of Most Backward Classes (MBCs) and said that proposals like distribution of sheep among breeders would remain on paper. He also asked the government to explain the sources of funding for establishment of new super-specialty hospitals and upgradation of existing hospitals.

Jana Reddy also condemned the TRS Government for removing Dharna Chowk and alleged that the ruling party was trying to suppress the people's right to protest against its policies. He said that the TRS Government has no faith in democracy.