Centre undermining federal values, conspiring to weaken States: CM KCR

Hyderabad: Stating that Central Government was working against the federal spirit, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao accused that the BJP government of conspiring to economically weaken the States, besides burdening the people with indiscriminate taxes. He strongly condemned the Central government describing welfare schemes as freebies. “Pursuing divisive politics, leaders at the Centre are trying […]

Hyderabad: Stating that Central Government was working against the federal spirit, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao accused that the BJP government of conspiring to economically weaken the States, besides burdening the people with indiscriminate taxes.

He strongly condemned the Central government describing welfare schemes as freebies. “Pursuing divisive politics, leaders at the Centre are trying to hide their failures. One needs to be vigilant and thwart the attempts of disruptive forces promoting religious hatred,” said Chandrashekhar Rao here on Monday.

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The Chief Minister hoisted the national flag to mark the 76th Indian Independence Day celebrations at Golconda Fort. The Constitution describes India as a union of States but the Central government was making a mockery of this basic principle and ruining the federal spirit, he said while addressing the people.

“The Central government does not take States into confidence before taking decisions on subjects in the concurrent list but pressure is being exerted to implement the decisions,” said Chandrashekhar Rao.
Reminding that farmers had taken up nationwide protests against the Central government’s anti-farmer laws recently, he said eventually Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to publicly apologise and withdraw the laws.

The Chief Minister slammed the Centre for denying a fair share of 41 per cent of taxes collected by the Centre to the States. Due to the cess and other forms of indirect taxation, the Centre was denying about 11.4 per cent of its revenue to the States in 2022-23 which was gross injustice.

“Further, various restrictions are being arbitrarily imposed on the economic freedom of the States. The Centre is also imposing cuts on the loans taken by the States under the FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) limit” he said.

Rubbishing the allegations over the State debts, the Chief Minister explained that as per the Central Government officials, the total debt of Telangana in 2019-20 financial was is Rs 2.25 lakh crore against Rs 75,577 crore debt inherited from the undivided Andhra Pradesh after the State formation.

The State Government’s debt was Rs 1,49,873 crore, which was spent as capital investment for construction of projects and infrastructure. Further, Telangana stands at 23rd position among 28 States in terms of debt-GSDP ratio, he explained.

“Telangana’s debt-GSDP ratio was 23.5 per cent and the State borrowings were within the FRBM limits. However, the nation’s debt-GDP ratio stands at 50.5 per cent. But some people are spreading misinformation with malicious intentions,” he said.

The Chief Minister raised concerns over the Centre levying taxes indiscriminately from milk to crematorium services and putting burden on the poor. The economic development of the country has been stunted due to Central Government’s inefficiency, he charged.

The Chief Minister observed that people in Constitutional positions were carrying out fascist attacks to break the peaceful coexistence that India has been maintaining for generations.

“India is globally acclaimed as a country of unity in diversity, but disruptive forces are trying to incite religious hatred and denting the nation’s reputation. Every citizen including the intelligentsia, youth and students should be vigilant and thwart the conspiracies of these evil forces,” he said.

He added that Telangana was making progressive strides and the State government was giving importance to all sections of the society for inclusive growth. He asserted that it was the responsibility of every citizen to protect Ganga Jamuna Tehzeeb of the State, which was lauded by Mahatma Gandhi.