States not at Centre’s mercy: CM KCR

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Friday was unequivocal in stating that the Central government was only discharging its Constitutional obligation when it releases funds to States. “There is no such thing as Central government funds. They are termed as grants but in reality, it is only a Constitutional obligation of the Central government. […]

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Friday was unequivocal in stating that the Central government was only discharging its Constitutional obligation when it releases funds to States. “There is no such thing as Central government funds. They are termed as grants but in reality, it is only a Constitutional obligation of the Central government. States are not at the mercy of the Centre, it is the State governments’ rights,” he said.

Pointing out that the responsibilities of Central and State governments are clearly defined in the Constitution, the Chief Minister said the Finance Commission of India, a statutory body, after discussing various aspects with State governments, makes its recommendations to the Central government before the presentation of the Union Budget. “Based on the Finance Commission’s recommendations, the Central government releases grants to the States,” he explained, intervening during Question Hour in the State Assembly.

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CLP Leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and other Congress legislators raised a question on the diversion of Employment Guarantee Scheme funds and Panchayat Raj Minister E Dayakar Rao was responding to their query. Responding to the Congress leaders’ questions, the Chief Minister said their allegations of funds being diverted was far from the truth.

Elaborating further, Chandrashekhar Rao said he was keen on sharing the achievements of the State government in developing villages across the State in the Assembly and appealed to Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy to allow an elaborate discussion on Palle Pragathi, Pattana Pragathi and implementation of the NREGA programme.

He also appealed to the Speaker to constitute a group to visit any village identified by opposition parties to see the development for themselves. The Chief Minister said the State government had taken a policy decision to allocate funds to local bodies’ equivalent to the funds allocated by the Centre.

Impressed by the State government’s achievements, he said a Union Minister had gone on record in the Parliament stating that Telangana was the only State that was supplying drinking water to every household. Parliament committees, sarpanch committees and Central government officials too had complimented the State government for the comprehensive development in villages, he said.

The Chief Minister said he wanted to share all the details on the financial condition of the State at the time of its formation, economic trends since then, funding, budget and expenditure. “All the accounts and expenditure of every paisa will be presented before the House and all legislators are welcome to participate in the debate,” Chandrashekhar Rao said, adding that the State government was ready to conduct the Assembly session for 20 days or even a month to discuss all the issues raised by opposition parties.

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