Stating that Telangana formation was a collective effort of the sincere fight of people and not a single person as was being claimed, Union Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy said it was time to introspect why the aspirations of people and the martyrs had failed miserably.
Speaking after hoisting the national flag at the historic Golconda Fort on the 10th formation day of Telangana on Friday, he said the failed leadership of Mr. K. Chandrasekhar Rao had pushed the new state into a debt trap as the focus was on corruption and not governance. So pitiable was the situation that the government was not in a position to pay salaries to its employees on time or clear the bills of even small contractors.
Mocking at the government, he said it had borrowed money from all the possible institutions that gave loans but they were not spent on development but at places where they could make money. He claimed that the State’s debt was now put at ₹3.12 lakh crore but the actual debt was much more as the government had borrowed money through various corporations.
He also credited the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the passage of the Telangana bill in Parliament and also praised the role of the late Sushma Swaraj for ensuring that pressure was brought on the government. He also expressed his gratitude to the sacrifices made by those who laid down their lives. More than 1200 people died for the cause, he said.
Mr. Reddy said the Central Government had taken several measures for the development of Telangana during the past nine years. About ₹1.2 lakh crore was spent on the construction of national highways in the State. He said two Vande Bharat Express trains were given to Telangana while Secunderabad railway station was being modernised with a budget of ₹720 crore.
