CM Meets Nirmala and Vaishnaw Seeks Rs 1,800 Cr Grant, AP’s Dues
Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Delhi on Friday and sought immediate release of Rs 1,800 crore as special assistance for the state's backward districts under the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.
He also reminded her about the pending grants for fiscal years 2019-20, 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 and stressed their importance for the uplift of the nine backward districts.
During a separate meeting with railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, he reiterated the plea for an integrated railway coach factory in Kazipet, as mandated by the AP Reorganisation Act. He described the railway coach project as a longstanding aspiration of Telangana people. Once accomplished, it can ensure industrial growth and create employment for locals, he said.
Reddy reminded the finance minister that the Centre had agreed to release a grant of Rs 450 crore to nine districts every year under the AP Reorganisation Act. He apprised Sitharaman of the management of the combined High Court, Raj Bhavan, Lokayukta, state human rights commission, judicial academy, and other public institutions in Hyderabad by the Telangana government after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
The state government has already spent Rs 703.43 crore on managing the institutions until the completion of the division. Reddy pointed out that Andhra Pradesh owed Rs 408.49 crore as its share to the Telangana state. He said that the Andhra Pradesh government had agreed to pay the amount.
The Union home ministry also wrote a letter to Andhra Pradesh to clear the amount to Telangana, which the AP government is yet to act upon. He sought directions to the neighbouring state for immediate payment of the Rs 408.49 crore due along with interest.
Further, the Chief Minister raised concerns about the Rs 2,547.07 crore that was unilaterally recovered by the Centre as Telangana’s share for loans for externally aided projects in the undivided Andhra Pradesh.
Reddy reminded the finance minister that the union government had allocated all funds related to centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) only to Andhra Pradesh in 2014-15. He pointed out that Rs 495.20 crore has to be transferred from AP to Telangana on the basis of population as under the AP Reorganisation Act
Revanth Reddy explained to the railway minister to set up an integrated railway coach factory in Kazipet in Telangana state, which has been clearly mentioned in the AP Reorganisation Act.
The Indian railways recently announced that a periodic overhauling (POH) workshop is being set up in Kazipet. The CM called for construction of a new railway line between Vikarabad-Krishna station. The proposed railway route will connect the backward areas of South Telangana such as Parigi, Kodangal, Chitlapalle, Tekalkod, Ravulapalle, Mathur, Daulatabad, Damaragidda, Narayanapet and Maktal. This will be particularly helpful to develop cement clusters and other industries near Tandoor. The new railway network will also help in reducing the distance between Vikarabad junction and Krishna station by 70 km.
The CM requested the railway minister to sanction a new rail route between Kalwakurti and Macharla. The proposed rail route via Vangur-Kandukuru-Devarakonda-Chalakurthi-Tirumalagiri to Macharla will connect the proposed Gadwal-Dornakal and the existing Macherla routes.
This network will benefit the cement industry and marketing of forest products. The network will provide connectivity between Secunderabad, Guntur and Dhone junctions and will be convenient for devotees from Dornakal-Miryalaguda (Papatapalli-John Pahad) and Dornakal-Gadwal.
These two rail routes pass through fertile land, sugarcane industries, granite industries, Siberian migratory bird centre, India's largest Buddhist stupa and Palair recreation areas in Khammam district, he said.
He explained that land prices in this area of Palair assembly constituency are high and most of the farmers belong to BC, SC, ST and minority communities. The acquisition of valuable land in this place will become a burden for the Indian Railways. Considering this, he requested for the railway lines to be changed from Dornakal to Vennaram-Mannegudem-Abbayipalem-Maripeda to Mothe by changing the proposed routesThe distance will also be reduced by 19 km compared to the previous routes, the CM said, appealing to Vaishnaw to reconsider the alignment of these two routes.