Opposition slams TRS terming Budget as 'unrealistic and inflated'

Hyderabad: Opposition Congress, MIM and BJP have slammed TRS government terming the Budget as “unrealistic and inflated”, during the debate on TS Appropriation Bill, 2017, in Legislative Assembly on Monday.

Congress MLA N. Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that the government had inflated Budget figures to hide the financial crisis and to secure more loans from banks by showing a higher GSDP growth rate.

He said though the government has failed to meet budgetary targets in its previous three Budgets with poor spending, it again attempted a higher Budget for 2017-18 ignoring the ground realities.

“The government failed to clear crop loan waiver scheme arrears and fee reimbursement arrears. Agricultural production has come down. Farmer suicides have increased. There is no progress in KG-to-PG free education, 2BHK houses for the poor and free 3-acre agriculture land for Dalits. The government has failed on all fronts in these three years,” Mr Reddy charged.

MIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi questioned how the finance minister came up with supplementary estimates of over Rs 41,000 crore for 2016-17, when the governments had not presented such huge amounts even in undivided Andhra Pradesh.

Mr Owaisi said drug menace has increased in the city making students and youth “drug-addicts” and e-cigarettes, ganja and other drugs were freely sold in Hyderabad near schools, colleges, clubs, resorts etc.