It’s just a ‘Golmaal Budget’, says KCR

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao described the union Budget as just a ‘Golmaal Budget’ and said it lacked sense and purpose as there was no specific benefit for any section including the farmers, the poor and the underprivileged. He said the eighth union Budget has exposed the intellectual bankruptcy of the Narendra Modi government which […]

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao described the union Budget as just a ‘Golmaal Budget’ and said it lacked sense and purpose as there was no specific benefit for any section including the farmers, the poor and the underprivileged. He said the eighth union Budget has exposed the intellectual bankruptcy of the Narendra Modi government which has failed the nation yet again.

“Rather than increasing allocations to various sectors during these trying times of Covid-19, the union government has reduced allocations to crucial sectors like agriculture, health, education, welfare and infrastructure development among others. This is unfortunate and shameful,” he stated. He said due to shortsightedness, the Centre did not take constructive steps to support the country which was recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tearing into the Centre for its lack of innovative policies and reforms at a press conference held at Pragathi Bhavan here on Tuesday, Chandrashekhar Rao said Prime Minister Narendra Modi who promised to double the farmers’ income by 2022 as well as apologised to farmers for bringing the Farm Laws, chose to increase the input cost by hiking the prices for fertilisers, farm equipment and others. He pointed out that the subsidy for fertilisers and urea was reduced by Rs 35,000 crore when compared to last budget.

The Chief Minister stated that the SC and ST population in the country was around 38-40 crore, but the union government allocated a mere Rs 12,800 crore in the Budget for their welfare which was far less than what Telangana allocated for SC ST sub-plan. “This is pathetic. Telangana is spending Rs 33,611 crore for SC and ST sub-plans in addition to allocations made for the Dalit Bandhu and other schemes,” he pointed out.

In the last eight years, he reminded that Telangana received only Rs 42,000 crore under Centrally Sponsored Schemes which was far lesser than the amount spent by the State government for Rythu Bandhu scheme which is Rs 50,000 crore.

Chandrashekhar Rao found fault with the Centre’s announcement on plans to interlink Krishna, Godavari and Cauvery rivers without seeking the consent of the stakeholder States. Terming it as a joke of the millenium, he demanded the Modi government to explain its policy on river interlinking and the Centre’s powers to facilitate the same. “There is a Bachawat Tribunal verdict that Telugu States have all rights on Godavari River water after the latter enters the respective States. How can you violate the Tribunal verdict which is equal to the Supreme Court judgement?” he questioned.

He pointed out that the river interlinking cannot be taken up without declaring the surplus waters and demanded to know on what basis did the union government come to a conclusion on surplus waters in both Krishna and Godavari rivers. In case of adequate availability of surplus water, he questioned why the Centre was not giving clearance to irrigation projects proposed by the Telangana government.

“We have submitted all reports along with relevant documents, but the Centre has not responded till date. If not bluffing the people of the nation or attempting to intimidate the States in violation of the federal system of this country, how can the Centre take up interlinking of rivers without the consent of the States concerned,” the Chief Minister asked. He said due to bad water policies and ignorant administration of the Centre, there were water wars between the States as well as several parts of the nation suffering drinking water crisis.

Exposing the Centre’s lack of commitment towards its goals, Chandrashekhar Rao pointed out that the Centre reduced allocations for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) by Rs 25,000 crore when the unemployment rate was very high. He said despite the adverse impact of Covid-19, the union government did not increase budget allocations for health infrastructure. He found fault with the conditional support to the States for raising borrowings by an additional 0.5 per cent under Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) by insisting for fixing electricity meters to agricultural connections in the name of power reforms.

The Chief Minister termed allocation of Rs 60,000 crore to provide tap water connection under Jal Shakti Mission as ‘bogus’, pointing outing that Telangana had spent around Rs 40,000 crore for Mission Bhagiratha to provide drinking water connections to every household in the state. At a time when India was ranked below the nations like Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan in Global Hunger Index, he stated that the Centre reduced the food subsidy by Rs 65,000 crore from Rs 2.11 lakh crore in last budget to Rs 1.45 lakh crore. He said there was no assurance about providing Minimum Support Price to farmers.

He demanded an explanation as to why the union government which cited losses for sale of Air India, was now shamelessly selling off Life Insurance Corporation of India despite the latter making huge profits. He termed the decision as an attempt to please the international insurance companies.

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