With the next budget just 2 weeks away, the TRS had released only Rs 29,357 crores of the Rs 100,637-crore budget presented on Nov 5, the Congress alleged.
With the next budget session of the Telangana State Legislature just 12 days away, the TRS government was very far from even getting close to the budget of Rs 1,00,637 crores allocated for 2014-15, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Vice-President and MLC Mohammed Ali Shabbir said.
Addressing a press conference at the Gandhi Bhavan on Monday, Shabbir Ali informed that the state government had so far released only Rs 29,357 crores or just 29.17% of the Rs 100,637-crore budget which was presented on November 5, 2014, by Finance Minister Etela Rajender.
He said that the non-spending had made Telangana's first ever budget a damp squib. Only Rs 13,354 crores (25.69%) of the Rs 51,989 crores under Non-Plan and Rs 16,003 crores (32.90%) of the Rs 48,648 crores under Plan expenditure had been released.
Rs 71,280 crores were thus yet to be released by the government with just 36 days left for the end of 2014-15 and the budget for 2015-16 scheduled to be presented on March 11, Shabbir Ali lamented.
The Congress leader said that these figures were taken from the official website of Telangana's Finance Department https://fdp.cgg.gov.in/tgfdp, and therefore their authenticity could not be suspected. These figures were pertaining to 1,530 Budget Release Orders (BROs) issued for 146 different Heads of Departments (HoDs) so far (till February 22).
Shabbir Ali said that the spending on welfare, a portfolio handled by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao himself, had been quite poor. Of the Rs 15,191 crores allocated for SC, ST, BC and minorities' welfare, only Rs 2,873 crores or 18.91% had been released.
Similarly, only 25.60% of the allocation for medical & health, 25.01% of that for education and 53.31% of that for women's welfare had been released.
Interestingly, the Congress leader said that of the Rs 2,000 crores allocated for Mission Kakatiya, the government had released Rs 1,315 crores, or 65.75%, while Rs 5,523 crores or 50.71% of the Rs 10,889.76 crores allocated for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development had been released.
"These departments were given preference as they are handled by KCR's close relatives. While KCR's son K Tarakarama Rao is the Panchayat Raj Minister, his son-in-law T Harish Rao is the Irrigation Minister," he said, alleging that the entire government and finances were revolving around KCR's family.
Shabbir Ali said that the non-release of over 70% of the allocated budget vindicated the stand taken by the Congress when it described the Rs 1 lakh crore budget as unrealistic. The Congress had supported the budget upon KCR's insistence that the new government would spend the entire amount. Now, the Congress' fears had come true, he said.
Shabbir Ali demanded that the Chief Minister and Finance Minister give an assurance that the entire unspent amount on welfare would be carried forward and added to the next budget.
He recalled that when he had raised the issue of unspent amount on minorities' welfare during the last budget session, the Chief Minister had himself assured that he would issue the necessary directions to carry forward those amounts into the next year. (INN)