Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday charged the Congress with destroying irrigation projects in Telangana and said the government would not burden gram panchayats with the cost of Mission Bhagiratha.
During the debate on the Appropriation Bill 2019, the Chief Minister exchanged heated words with Leader of Opposition Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka.
Mr Vikramarka said there was a 19-20 per cent dip in revenue receipts when compared to projected estimates in the Budgets presented for the last five years. The vote-on-account Budget, too showed a variation in projected estimates and actual receipts.
Intervening, Mr Rao told the Opposition leader not to mislead people, saying “It appears that the Opposition leader is failing in understanding the concept of estimates and it appears that he doesn’t want to project the growth rate of the state, though it is No. 1 in the country in growth.”
When Mr Rao tried to refer to the undivided AP performance, Mr Bhatti said the people had opted for a separate state and there was no point in referring back five years after statehood.
He asked the government to place detailed project reports submitted to the banks to obtain loans for Mission Bhagiratha and the Kaleshwaram project before the House as it appeared that the government had indicated getting revenue through the sale of drinking water to gram panchayats.
Mr Rao said, “It is a general practice to show a stream of revenue. It doesn’t mean that we would burden the villages. It is for the government to take a decision and we will give grants to the gram panchayats.”
He said that the previous Congress governments had designed the Rajivsagar, Indirasagar and Ambedkar Sujala Sravanthi projects in such a way that the Telangana region was deprived of water. The TRS had redesigned the projects and the state would be able to irrigate 1.20 crore acres. The state would earn Rs 1.2 lakh crore through crop production next year, Mr Rao said.
He took serious exception when the Opposition leader alleged the ruling party was silencing him. He denied Mr Bhatti’s contention that the government had admitted to not receiving the required revenues.
Mr Rao assured him about supplying Godavari water from the Seetharamasagar project to irrigate areas in Bhadradri-Khammam district in the coming monsoon season. He said he would accompany Mr Vikramarka in a copter to release the water.
After a prolonged discussion and Mr Rao’s reply, the House approved the Appropriation Bill 2019.
CM orders village survey for 2BHK
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao announced in the House that a village-wise survey would be taken up to identify the houses required in each village and urban local body and to take up the 2BHK scheme.
The Chief Minister said it was the late N.T. Rama Rao who had empowered backward classes by providing political reservations to local bodies. The Congress, he said, had betrayed the community.
Mr Rao said the government had asked the Election Commission to conduct Lok Sabha elections in the state during the first phase so that ZPTC and MPTCs could be after that.
