Bhatti exposes 'fake budgets' of BRS regime in Assembly

Citing the Dalit Bandhu as an example, Bhatti, in his Budget speech, said the BRS government allocated `17,700 crore in 2021-22 but did not release a single rupee for the scheme.

Bhatti said as per CAG accounts for 2021-22, an amount of Rs 4,874 crore allotted to SC welfare, `2,918 crore
to ST welfare, Rs 1,437 crore allotted to BC wefare was not spent.

Similarly, during BRS regime from 2014-15 to 2023-24, only Rs 297 crore was spent for interest-free loans out of total allocation of Rs 1,067 crore allocated for women self-help groups (SHGs) and only Rs 2,685 crore was spent against budgeted allocation of Rs 7,848 crore.

"It is clear that funds were shown as allocations to gain mileage but were not actually spent. We have dispensed with this terrible practice. We have estimated our receipts realistically and have made allocations
accordingly. This shows our commitment to match our actions with our words," Bhatti said.

Against the BRS government claims that it had provided safe drinking water supply to every household in rural areas at a cost of Rs 35,752 crore under Mission Bhagiratha, Bhatti said, "There are still numerous villages in the state which have no safe drinking water facility. The Central government also took objection to the claims of the previous government of providing 100 per cent households."

In Mission Bhagiratha, water was transported over long distances, ignoring the locally available resources. This led to a huge escalation in cost as well as sub-optimal utilisation of local resources.

Further, problems are cropping up in the pipelines and storage tanks and pumping facilities. But the BRS regime preferred to ignore such issues and went ahead, benefiting contractors but not the people. Hence, people in rural areas are still facing acute drinking water crisis, he said.

"There is a need to rectify mistakes in Mission Bhagiratha and use it optimally to avoid huge loss to public money," he said.

Bhatti also stated that the previous government wasted public money in the name of Rythu Bandhu by extending `10,000 per acre per year to land that was not cultivable, land in hillock areas and even for roads.

"The biggest beneficiaries were landlords owning huge tracts of land, who never cultivated them and also realtors holding thousands of acres. We have decided to review Rythu Bandhu and implement Rythu Bharosa to the genuine farmers at the rate of Rs 15,000 per acre. We will also include tenant farmers who were left in the lurch by previous government," he added.

Bhatti announced that the state government would implement its own version of crop insurance scheme which would be better than the PM Fasal Bhima Yojana. The government is studying various insurance schemes being implemented in other states such as West Bengal. The BRS government had walked out of the PM Fasal Bhima Yojana but did not implement a scheme of its own.