Nalgonda MP Uttam Kumar Reddy today said that Telangana would enter a major financial crisis in a few months, and might not be able to pay salaries and pensions.
Nalgonda MP and ex-TPCC chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy today predicted that Telangana would enter a major financial crisis in the next few months, and that the State government might not be able to pay salaries and pensions.
He was addressing a series of meetings in different villages of the Huzurnagar constituency in Suryapet district on the 10th day of the Rachabanda / Rythu Bharosa Yatra on Monday.
During his interaction with the farmers and other villagers, he explained the promises made in the Warangal Declaration unveiled by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on May 6.
Reddy said that the TRS government might not be left with funds to pay for Rythu Bandhu in the next cropping season as the State's exchequer was empty.
Accusing Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao of mishandling the State's finances, he said that the TRS government had never maintained a balance between the actual revenues and expenditure.
"KCR has been making false claims for the last eight years that Telangana has become the richest State in the country. But in reality, Telangana is being pushed into a huge debt trap. To inflate the growth figures, even the loans were shown as income. This was pointed out not only by the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) in various reports, but also by the 15th Finance Commission. Instead of taking corrective measures, KCR kept on lying about the growth figures. Consequently, the Reserve Bank of India has imposed a ban on Telangana from taking fresh loans in the current financial year," he added.
"The actual revenue of Telangana is around Rs. 80,000 crore as per the CAG and FC. However, the TRS government presented a budget of Rs. 2.45 lakh crore for 2022-23 only to make fake claims of growth and prosperity," he said.
Reddy said that the Telangana government had proposed to borrow Rs. 52,167 crore this year, but the RBI had barred it from borrowing further due to its financial mismanagement and a huge burden of loans. The State government had so far borrowed over Rs 5 lakh crore, and was already spending over Rs 18,000 crore towards payment of interest and loan installments every year, Reddy said. The RBI's ban had now placed Telangana in a piquant situation. It desperately needed money to finance welfare schemes and run the administration, but if the RBI stopped Telangana from borrowing more, then the government might not have any money to spend on welfare schemes including Rythu Bandhu. After the end of the second quarter, the State government might not even have the money to pay salaries and pensions, he added.
The Congress leader demanded that the Chief Minister convene a meeting with financial experts to find an immediate solution. "It is highly unfortunate that instead of managing the State's finances in this crisis, CM KCR is completely focused on pursuing his ambition to enter national politics. Instead of saving public money, he is using the State's exchequer to fund his political trips and other programs," he said.
The financial crisis would impact all sectors, especially agriculture, and therefore the TRS government needed to take all required measures to avert a crisis, he said. He also urged the union government to intervene to save Telangana from facing a cash crunch.
In the last 10 days, Reddy has covered 64 villages and one municipality spread across three Assembly constituencies in the Nalgonda Lok Sabha segment.