The State Cabinet was informed on Thursday that the government had received less than 3 per cent of its total expenditure of ₹1.84 lakh crore in 2021-22 from Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSSs). It received just ₹5,200 crore.
At a meeting presided by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, officials brought to his notice that despite the raw deal meted out by the Centre, the growth rate of revenue by the State government was 15.3 per cent this financial year. The receipts from CSSs and other programmes of the Centre were minus 12.9 per cent this year.
The meeting mainly discussed resource mobilisation by government in the face of a large amount of revenue deficit so far this financial year.
The Centre had introduced Single Nodal Account for the first time for release of funds to States which delayed the process. Also, the limits under Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management for borrowings by States were not only slashed but not issued on time.
The State would have registered a 22 per cent revenue growth if borrowing limits per GSDP had not been cut under the FRMB.
The officials informed Mr. Rao that the Centre released only ₹47,312 crore under CSSs in the last eight years. However, the assistance provided by State government to agriculture under Rytu Bandhu alone was ₹58,024 crore in the last four years.
A release said Mr. Rao was sore that growth of States was stifled by incoherent polices of the Centre. The GSDP of Telangana would have gone up to ₹14.50 lakh crore, which was ₹3 lakh crore more, if the country’s growth rate had been as good as Telangana.
Telangana contributed five per cent to national income though its population was two per cent at the national level. With a growth rate of 11.5 per cent in State’s Own Tax revenue, the State occupied the top position in the country.
The annual revenue of Telangana in the first year of its formation was just ₹62,000 crore. But, it went up to ₹1.84 lakh crore last year. The growth rate was three-fold in last seven years. The State stood first in the country by providing 1.55 lakh jobs in IT sector last year. On the other hand, Bengaluru which was in the forefront in the sector created 1.48 lakh jobs.
The special policies, incentives, investor-friendly initiatives, creation of basic infrastructure, stable law and order, uninterrupted power supply and availability of skilled manpower contributed to the growth of IT.
The Cabinet mandated health department to come up with proposals to construct a modern hospital at its headquarters at Kothi. The vacancies of 5,111 Anganwadi teachers and helpers should be filled immediately.
The meeting sanctioned 10 lakh new social security pensions for distribution from August 15. They would be in addition to the existing 36 lakh pensions. Seventy five prisoners would be released by commuting their sentence for good conduct. Ten specialist doctors were sanctioned for the ENT Hospital at Kothi. A modern tower to house the hospital would be constructed on its existing premises. Proposals should be prepared for construction of another modern building at Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital in Hyderabad.
