HYDERABAD: The Central government needs to handhold the performing State of Telangana by giving more funds to it and implementing the assurances made in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, TRS MPs Nama Nageswara Rao and Joginapally Santosh Kumar demanded in Parliament on Monday.
Participating in the debate on the Finance Bill in Lok Sabha, Nageswara Rao said that Telangana is number one in the country in key sectors such irrigation, agriculture and drinking water, and that the Centre should support it by allocating more funds.
He requested it to give funds for the Kakatiya Mega Textile Park, sanctioning the second phase of the Hyderabad Metro Rail, a textile cluster for Sircilla, a railway coach factory for Warangal and a Sainik school. He recalled that several Union ministers had lauded the rapid progress achieved by Telangana in the drinking water and irrigation sectors.
Earlier, during the Question Hour, he said there are no differences between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Disputing with Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on his reply to a question raised by Andhra Pradesh MP K Ram Mohan Naidu, the TRS MP said: "Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have no differences. It is for the Central government to implement the assurances given in the AP Reorganisation Act."
Nageswara Rao said even after seven years, the Centre has not implemented the assurances made in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. However, Rai said that many provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (APR) Act, 2014 had been implemented and the remaining are at various stages of implementation. Some of these, relating to infrastructure projects and educational institutions, have a long gestation period for which 10 years has been prescribed in the Act.
Meanwhile, participating the debate on the Appropriation Bill in Rajya Sabha, Santosh Kumar lamented that the tax devolution to States has been heavily impacted due to the reduction in revenue receipts of the Union. “Secondly, performing States have been penalised by the 15th Finance Commission through its unacceptable methodology,” he said.
Santosh Kumar said there are a lot of expectations -- that the Centre would give a special package of Rs 25,105 crore under various heads. It is also expected that it would compensate Telangana under the Jal Jeevan Mission for completing Mission Bhagiratha.
"Release of grants amounting to Rs 1,350 crore (Rs 450 crore each for 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22) under the package of the development of backward regions of the State as mandated under Section 94 (2) of the AP Reorganisation Act is pending. Also, dues amounting to Rs 1,114 crore of the 13th Finance Commission grants to local bodies; and dues to the tune of Rs 817.61 crore of the 14th Finance Commission to local bodies are also to be cleared," he said.
He added that the 15th Finance Commission, for its award period between 2021-26, had recommended Rs 3,024 crore as sector-specific and Rs 2,350 crore as State-specific grants to Telangana. Also, in the action-taken report submitted in Parliament, the Centre had indicated that due consideration would be given to this recommendation while reorganising the CSS. The same may expeditiously be considered and released, Kumar demanded.