Telugu Desam Party (TDP) polit bureau member and Leader of the Opposition in the State Legislative Council, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, on November 14 (Tuesday) accused the Jagan Mohan Reddy government in the State of doing “great injustice to the marginalised sections” by diverting the Central funds released for their welfare.
In a statement, the former Finance Minister alleged that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was resorting to extravagance and corrupt practices. He said the State did not release matching grants for more than 94 Centrally-sponsored schemes, which had an adverse impact on development of the downtrodden sections in the State.
“Instead of focussing on key issues of development, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government is obsessed with painting buildings in its party colours and renaming Central schemes. Indiscriminate diversion of funds from the farm sector to the health sector and from industry to the irrigation sector have left the actual beneficiaries of the Central schemes high and dry,” he said.
“Central funds to the tune of a whopping ₹71,449 crore were diverted in the State. In the last four and a half years, the Jagan government has been selling away government assets, implementing policies that have thrust a heavy financial burden on the people, and is raising loans at a high interest rate. Angered by Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s act of claiming credit for Central schemes, the Centre withheld release of ₹6,000 crore,” Mr. Ramakrishnudu said.
Accusing the ruling party of misusing public money for self-campaigning, Mr. Ramakrishnudu pointed out that the Centre, in a letter, had raised objections to the inclusion of the names of Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy and his late father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) in front of every government welfare scheme. He said the Chief Minister should own responsibility for depriving people of the State the funds that were meant to be spent on their welfare.
He accused the Chief Minister of diverting Central funds of ₹3,084 crore sanctioned for building houses for the poor and said that the YSR Congress Party (YSRPC) government had promised to build five lakh housing units in a year.
The TDP leader alleged that ₹8.60 crore allocated by the 14th and 15th Finance Commissions for development of the panchayat bodies had been misused. As a result, the panchayats were left with no funds even to pay for bills pertaining to drinking water and sanitation.
He said Central funds to the tune of ₹7,879 crore meant for implementation of the Employment Guarantee Scheme had also been turned aside, forcing lakhs of workers from villages to migrate in search of a livelihood.
