PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana and Panchayat Raj Minister K Jana Reddy continue to pick holes in Chief Minister N Kiran Reddy’s pet scheme Bangaru Thalli.
Playing the Devil’s Advocate, both raised a few “pertinent” points on the scheme as the nine-member Cabinet sub-committee met under the chairmanship of minister V Sunitha Lakshma Reddy at the Assembly on Thursday.
Jana Reddy, making light of the Chief Minister’s proposal to accord statutory status to the scheme, sarcastically remarked, “if a bill is tabled in the Assembly, the actual position of the government would be known to all.” Mincing no words, Botcha wondered why statutory protection was needed only for Bangaru Thalli.
Speaking to reporters in the Assembly lobbies, Jana Reddy observed, in a democratic government, none should feel supreme and above all. Jana Reddy has been against the scheme in its present form and had suggested amendments such as depositing a lump sum at one go for every girlchild rather than financing her in a phased manner.
As for Botcha, though he isn’t on the sub-committee, he attended the meeting only to register his objections. According to sources, he fired salvos before officers concerned at the meeting. The PCC chief wanted to know why statutory status was needed only for Bangaru Thalli and why the government was in a hurry to give it legal sanction without plugging the loopholes.
“If statutory protection is accorded to Bangaru Thalli without making it foolproof, who will bear the brunt of it?” Botcha reportedly asked.
Sources said he had further enquired about the financial viability and sought to know if it was really possible to implement the scheme for 20 long years.
He also expressed his displeasure over limiting the scheme to babies born in government hospitals, the sources said. walked out of the meeting.