Telangana Remains Neglected In Union Budget: Uttam

TPCC President and MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy today condemned the Centre for an "unclear" Union Budget, which was presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament.

"The budget speech is a serious one that presents the union government's revenue and expenditure plans for the year. But, today's budget speech was full of fake claims of achievements with no clarity on future plans," he alleged.

Reddy also lashed out at the NDA regime for "neglecting" Telangana in the Union Budget.

Speaking to the media after the release of the budget, Reddy said, "It is very disappointing to see that Telangana remains neglected in this year's Budget. The state has not been allocated sufficient funds yet again."

He also accused the BJP-led Centre of misusing the funds of the public exchequer for the party's benefits.

"It is clear to see on which basis the state-wise fund allocation has been done. Those states that are gearing up for elections, like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, have received the lion's share while most other states have been neglected. This sort of inequitable distribution of resources among the states is unacceptable. If this practice is to continue, the states will only be able to develop in the election years," Reddy said.

Singling out the leaders of the party's Telangana wing, he added, "All four BJP MPs from Telangana, including state party head Bandi Sanjay, should be ashamed of themselves for having failed to get a single rupee allocated for the state's development in the Union Budget. They should stop making tall claims and fake promises to the people of our state now."

The leader also assailed Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao for supporting the Centre's three new farm Acts.

"The CM must explain now what he gained by supporting the BJP-led union government since 2014. He has always supported all the policies brought in by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In fact, he is more supportive of the PM's decisions than even the Chief Ministers of the BJP-governed states are. Further, he was not even able to pressurise or confront the Centre to pay the state its GST dues. However, Telangana did not gain anything even after this," he claimed.

"There is no mention of the funds promised to Telangana under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act - no funds were allocated for the railway coach factory at Kazipet or the steel plant at Bayyaram, assured to the state under the Act. Not a single irrigation project has been granted the status of a national one either, and nor have any funds been sanctioned for any other projects, including the Hyderabad Metro Rail project or the MMTS Phase II and III works. The Union Budget for the year has given the people of Telangana no cause to celebrate," the MP further added.

Talking about the implications of this year's budget on the people of the nation in general, he claimed that there was nothing in the document that would positively impact the lives of the common people, especially the middle class, and that certain budgetary provisions would only increase their economic burdens by leading to inflation and spikes in the prices of essential commodities.

The MP added that the decision to impose a cess of Rs 2.5 per litre of petrol and of Rs 4 per litre of diesel would burden the people as it would push up fuel prices further, and pointed out that the rise would hit Telangana especially hard as the fuel prices in the state were already "the highest among the states".

Rebuking Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, he said, "It is unbelievable that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was trying to justify the agriculture cess proposed in the budget by saying it would not impact the people of the country as other duties had been reduced."

He also lashed out at the Centre for not including any substantial tax reliefs or unemployment benefits in the budget.

"Where the middle class population of India had expected some tax reliefs in the wake of the losses incurred due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the country's leaders have taken no concrete steps to ensure this. Instead, to mollify dissenters perhaps, the government has taken the decision to exempt people aged 75 and above from filing IT returns. This is nothing short of ridiculous as the average retirement age is 60 to 65 years. Further, the government has failed to acknowledge India's unemployed youth in the budget as well. Scores of people lost their jobs due to the recent nation-wide lockdown. The government, evidently unconcerned by this, has not even announced a package for the unemployed," the TPCC head said.

Addressing the economic provisions made by the Centre to deal with the ongoing pandemic, he said,"Only Rs 35,000 crore have been allocated for the development and production of the Covid-19 vaccine where Serum Institute of India head Adaar Poonawalla has advised the Centre to set aside Rs 80,000 crore for the same. The present allocation, then, is not even half of the estimated amount required for the vaccine."

Claiming that the union government's "ineptitude" in managing the finances of the country had led to economic ruin, Reddy alleged that it was trying to now sell off public assets to private parties to survive.

"The proposal to disinvest in the IDBI and other nationalised banks is condemnable. The Centre wants to sell off airports, ports, railways, factories and various other public assets to private companies as it is incapable of managing the country's finances and needs to survive either by selling off public assets or by borrowing hefty loans. This year, too, the NDA regime is proposing to borrow Rs 12 lakh crore. At this rate, the Modi government will push India into a dangerous debt trap," the Congress leader said.

CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka also expressed his displeasure at the budget, and claimed that the document had "abandoned" Telangana.

He also questioned the BJP leaders in the state for their silence on the issue.

Vikramarka made it clear that the people of the state, left "high and dry", would teach a befitting lesson to both the state government and the BJP.