Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has criticised the previous Bharat Rashtra Samiti government for pushing the State into a debt trap because of the “mismanagement” of finances during its close to 10-year rule.
Telangana, which was revenue surplus at the time of its formation in 2014, is now saddled with debt of more than ₹7 lakh crore. From ₹6,000 crore expenditure for debt servicing in 2014, the State with revenue receipts of ₹1.3 lakh crore is paying ₹70,000 crore a year to service its debts at present. “A surplus State is brought to near bankruptcy during the 10-year tenure of the BRS. We have to raise loans to repay previous loans. Can anybody destroy the economy so fast,” he questioned.
The Chief Minister said the State would opt for borrowings to create assets, but the BRS government hadn’t created any assets in the past 10 years: “Neither Kaleshwaram project nor Mission Bhagiratha are assets. What returns did they generate?”
The Chief Minister took strong exception to claims of BRS leaders K.T. Rama Rao, whom he described as “management quota candidate”, and T.Harish Rao on payment of Rythu Bandhu to farmers. “The same BRS made payments for Rythu Bandhu from December to October of the following year. We are committed to complete the payments before March 31,” he said, adding that the BRS leaders had no moral right to criticise the Congress which was fulfilling its six guarantees to the people.
Mr. Revanth Reddy said the government could have paid the entire quantum of Rythu Bandhu assistance at the earliest, but it had several commitments like payment of salaries to employees and implementing a spree of welfare schemes. “The BRS leaders are trying to hoodwink the people with their claims for political gains. I can only pity them,” he said.
He said the previous government had not taken any initiative to fill the vacant posts and it had rather complicated the cases that landed in courts. “With his long experience, my colleague N. Uttam Kumar Reddy is still unable to understand the magnitude of the problems,” he said.
Mr. Revanth Reddy said the previous government ignored the promises it made to the people ahead of elections in 2018 and 2023 and was indulging in criticising the Congress government which took over the reins a little over two months ago. “I am prepared to convene a special session of the Assembly to discuss the assurances given in the manifestos of BRS vis-a-vis the six guarantees of the Congress. Are they prepared for it,” he asked.
In the same vein, he launched a trenchant attack on the BJP for levelling baseless charges against the government. “The BRS and the BJP are speaking the same language. Did Prime Minister Narendra Modi fulfil the promises made in the BJP manifesto like the creation of two crore jobs every year and bringing back black money stashed in the Swiss bank accounts,” he questioned.
He wondered why the BJP leaders including Union Minister and party’s State president G. Kishan Reddy did not try to meet the Ministers or the Chief Minister to represent the problems if they were interested. “The BJP leaders have no right to seek votes for electing Mr. Modi for the third time,” he said.
He was particularly critical of Mr. Kishan Reddy questioning what good he did to Telangana despite being a Union Minister for five years. “There is no difference between Mr. Modi and BRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao. Both have harmed the interests of Telangana,” he alleged.
Accidental insurance
Earlier, Mr.Revanth Reddy launched ₹1 crore accidental insurance cover for all employees of Singareni Collieries Company Limited. The accidental insurance offered in association with Union Bank of India will extend insurance benefits to all employees irrespective of their salary amount drawn.
They will avail a total of ₹1.15 crore accidental insurance facility without paying a single rupee.
