Medaram, Hyderabad: The Congress termed the State Budget presented on 06-02-2023 as nothing but a 'number game' and 'illusionary', as there remained a huge variation between the proposals and on-the-ground actuals.
TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy, who began his padayatra on 06-02-2023 at Medaram, said the Budget had nothing to speak about. “Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao never explained to the people how much money he had allocated for which welfare activity, of which how much money had been spent. What is the use of the Budget if the figures remain on paper, he told mediapersons.
He said the Budget must the proposals for the coming year, the revised estimates for the current year and the actual spending of the year before. He said there should not be much difference the estimates of the previous year and the actual expenditure. “Unlike anywhere else in the World, in Telangana there is a 30 per cent difference between the three,” he said.
CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and party seniors D. Sridhar Babu, T. Jagga Reddy and T. Jeevan Reddy said that the government had failed to allocate funds to fulfill the promises made earlier and each passing year exposed the deceptive attitude of the state government.
“There is no mention of 2BHK schemes and plots. The allocation of Rs 6,229 crore for the BC community, who constitute 50 per cent of the population, is insufficient, while the funds meant for SC and ST sub-plan get diverted,” said Bhatti.
Former PCC chief N. Uttam Kumar Reddy described it as a ‘directionless’ Budget. Reddy said that the proposed expenditure of `Rs 2.9 lakh crore was unrealistic as it did not match the revenues. "It is ridiculous that the finance minister's speech did not have any mention of estimated revenues. He did not specify whether the budget was surplus or deficit," he said.
The Congress MP said that there was no uniformity in the allocations and almost all major sectors remained neglected like the health department, which got just 4.18 per cent of the Budget. He said that there has been no provision to clear fee reimbursement and scholarship dues of over Rs 3,200 crore and a meagre Rs 3,001 crore has been allocated to the higher education department. The budget is also silent on the monthly unemployment allowance of Rs 3,016, he said, adding that there was no mention of waiver of crop loans.
"This was the last budget of the BRS government and it has failed to honour its promises. Harish Rao has disappointed the entire farming community in the state," he said.
Former minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah described it as an ‘unrealistic budget’ which was focused on gaining publicity. “There remains a variation of Rs 70,000 core when compared to the previous Budget and actual spending. What is the use of coming up with big figures when the government is unable to spend or generate revenue. On one hand, the BRS government has failed to create new jobs, while on the other hand has completely failed to support agriculture,” he told Deccan Chronicle.
