HYDERABAD: TRS working president and minister K.T. Rama Rao on Saturday posed a series of questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked him to answer these “as honestly as possible” during his Independence Day address on August 15.
Rama Rao, in a statement, questioned Modi on what a freebie is according to his definition, and if he considered welfare schemes aimed to uplift the poor, downtrodden, and the disadvantaged, as freebies. Telangana, he said, was implementing several welfare schemes including Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bima, and wondered if Modi considered these freebies.
He said the Modi government’s actions on the economy were pushing the country into danger, and cited a recent CAG report which warned that India was spending 37 per cent of its annual income on paying interests on loans taken by the Centre. “According to the FRBM Act, the central government should not borrow more than 40% of the GDP, but the Modi government has already incurred 54% of its debt. The CAG has warned that if the situation continues like this, there is a risk of ‘collapse of the country's economy,” Rama Rao said.
Among the questions he posed to Modi was the policy on public welfare, the quantum of loans waived or written off for “you crony capitalist friends,” loans waived for farmers, and whether he will cancel welfare schemes being implemented in the states where BJP is in power.
Rama Rao also asked if Modi will face the next polls with an announcement that all free welfare schemes will be cancelled, and if his government would enact a law, or amend the Constitution to cancel all the welfare schemes in the country.
