HYDERABAD: Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao said that the policies of the Central government, like the delay in releasing Goods and Services Tax (GST) dues, were adversely impacting the State's finances.
Responding to a question raised by K Navin Kumar in the State Legislative Council on Monday, the Finance Minister said that as Telangana was a revenue surplus State, the Fifteenth Finance Commission had not recommended any grants for it. "We have requested the Central government to give special grants to performing States like Telangana. But it has not considered our request," Harish said.
He further pointed out that though the NITI Aayog had recommended funds for Mission Kakatiya and Mission Bhagiratha, the Centre did not pay heed to the same. "The Centre is yet to release the GST and IGST dues to Telangana," he added.
Harish said that the State's GST collections were impacted by COVID-19. "Regardless, Telangana's growth was better than the country's. The Centre and several other States had registered negative growth, whereas Telangana registered positive growth. The GSDP was Rs 5,05,840 crore in 2014-15 and it is Rs 9,80,407 crore now. In the last six years, the State came third in terms of GSDP growth," he said.
Telangana will use river waters fully: Harish
To another question asked by Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, Harish said that the State government was planning to utilise its share of water in the Krishna and Godavari fully. "Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has adopted a three-pronged strategy to utilise 968 tmcft water in Godavari and 299 tmcft in the Krishna. Construction of major, medium and minor irrigation projects as well as check-dams is the government's strategy," he said.
The Minister added that the State government planned to irrigate 3.5 lakh acres by constructing new check-dams in Telangana.
KT Rama Rao pats traffic cops as official car gets fined
MAUD Minister KT Rama Rao on Monday felicitated traffic sub-inspector A Ilaiah and constable A Venkateshwarlu, who raised a traffic challan against the Minister's vehicle for running in the wrong direction near Bapu Ghat on October 2.
Rama Rao commended them for doing their duty sincerely. He stated that rules were applicable for everyone, be it citizens or public representatives. He also stated that the government stands by the officers like Ilaiah who work sincerely
257 bridges under construction in TS: R&B Minister
The construction of 257 bridges are in progress across the State and all of them would be ready by the end of next year, said Roads and Buildings Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy on Monday. He added that Rs 3,050 crore had been allocated for the construction of these bridges.
Responding to a question raised by B Harshvardhan Reddy and others in the Assembly, the Minister said that the government had sanctioned 629 bridges in total and had completed the construction of 372 bridges
Aarogyasri covers 87.5 lakh families
Harish Rao said that 10,39,086 persons were treated under Aarogyasri scheme from 2014 to 2021. "The Ayushman Bharat scheme would benefit only 26.11 lakh families in the State, whereas Arogyasri would cover 87.500 lakh families," he said. He added that the government has decided to club Aarogyasri and Ayushman Bharat to benefit a majority of the families