Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President & MP Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the Union Budget for 2021-22, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament on Monday, was highly disappointing as Telangana remained neglected in fund allocations.
Speaking to media persons in the Parliament premises after the presentation of budget, Uttam Kumar Reddy accused the BJP Govt of misusing public exchequer for political gains. He said more allocations were made for election-bound States like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu while other States were totally neglected. He alleged that the BJP Govt has failed to ensure equitable distribution of resources among all States. This is a wrong practice and if it continues, then all States will get new projects and funds only during election-years, he said.
“All four BJP MPs from Telangana, including State BJP President Bandi Sanjay should be ashamed of themselves for having failed to get a single rupee for Telangana in the Union Budget. They should now stop making tall claims and fake promises with regard to Telangana,” he said.
Further, he said Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao must explain as to what he achieved by supporting the BJP Government at the Centre since 2014. “CM KCR has supported all the policies and decisions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since beginning. In fact, he was more supportive of PM Modi’s decisions than the Chief Ministers of BJP-governed States. However, Telangana did not gain anything in any of the budgets presented by BJP Govt,” he said adding that TRS Govt has failed to pressurise the Centre even to get the GST dues.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that Telangana got nothing in the Union Budget 2021-22. “There is no mention of allocations for the promises made with Telangana under Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. Not a single irrigation project of Telangana has been accorded National Status and no allocations have been made for any other project. There is no mention of funds for the Railway Coach Factory at Kazipet or Steel Plant at Bayyaram. There is nothing to cheer for people of Telangana from this budget,” he said. Further, he said no funds have been allocated for expansion of Hyderabad Metro Rail project or the MMTS Phase – II & III.
The TPCC Chief said that there was nothing for common people, especially the middle class in the union budget. Infact, he said the imposition of cess of Rs. 2.5 per litre on petrol and Rs. 4 on diesel would burden the common as increase in fuel prices would lead to inflation and rise in prices of essential commodities. He said it was unbelievable that the Finance Minister was trying to justify the Agriculture Cess by saying it would not impact the consumers as other duties have been reduced. He pointed out that petrol and diesel prices were highest in Telangana, especially Hyderabad.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the BJP Govt apparently wants to go slow on Covid vaccination. “Only Rs. 35,000 Crore have been allocated for Covid vaccine while Serum Institute of India (SII) head Adaar Poonawalla has advised the Centre to set aside Rs. 80,000 Crore for the vaccination. The present allocation is not even half of the estimated amount required for vaccination. Further, no financial relief has been announced for the families of over 1,54,000 people who lost their lives due to Covid in the last one year,” he said.
The TPCC Chief said that the unemployed youth remained neglected in the budget. As per rough estimates, over 12 crore people lost their jobs due to lockdown. No package has been announced for those jobless people, he said.
Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that the BJP Govt was trying to sell off public assets to private parties. He condemned the proposal for disinvestment in IDBI and two other banks. He said that the BJP Govt wants to sell off airports, ports, railways, factories and all other public assets to private companies. “It has been proved that the BJP Govt is incapable of managing the country’s finances and it wants to survive either by selling off public assets or by borrowing loans. This year, the BJP Govt is proposing to borrow Rs. 12 lakh crore. Modi Govt is pushing India into a huge debt trap,” he said.
The TPCC Chief also said as against the expectation of the middle class for some tax relief, BJP Govt exempted people aged above 75 years from filing IT returns. He described the decision as ridiculous as the average retirement age is 65 years.
“Budget speech is a serious document that presents the Central Govt’s revenue and expenditure plans for the next one year. But today’s budget speech was full of fake claims of achievements with no clarity on future plans,” he said.