Hyderabad: TRS MLAs are worried about the lack of constituency development funds to keep their promises made during the election campaign. They are trying to build pressure on finance minister T. Harish Rao to allocate funds to their constituencies in the upcoming Budget.
After the TRS came to power for the second time, the MLAs were busy with a series of elections including to the Lok Sabha and rural and urban local bodies. They could ignore the promises made to the public before the Assembly elections held in December 2018.
No new works were taken up in the last year and several works that were started under the first TRS government are still pending. With pressure growing on them from their constituents, the MLAs are approaching the finance minister and putting pressure on them.
The Budget Session is expected to be held in the second week of March. The MLAs from the districts are in Hyderabad to put up proposals regarding the work in their constituencies and getting them included in the Budget proposals.
Works with regard to amenities like roads, drinking water supply and drainage-related issues are to be finished while there are several minor issues in rural areas.
During the first TRS government, the MLAs were given Rs 3 crore every year under the Constituency Development Fund. The funds were stopped after TRS came to power in 2018 for the second time.
When the MLAs went to the rural areas for campaigning for the municipal polls, the public questioned them about their promises and demanded immediate solutions. As all the elections are now complete, the MLAs are now lobbying for funds.
A senior MLA from Mahbubnagar district said, “People are complaining about bad roads in several villages. We are unable to do resolve the issue without funds from the government. Leaders at the local level want community halls constructed, which we are unable to fund.”
An MLA from Adilabad district, facing a similar problem, told Deccan Chronicle, “Several leaders from the villagers are raising issues of poor drainage lines. In some hamlets people want roads for better transportation to the nearest towns. In the past, funds were sanctioned from the Constituency Development Fund, but there is no budget allocation right now.”
