Dismissing Niti Aayog’s claim that Telangana drew only Rs 200 crore against the Centre’s allocation of Rs 3,982 crore under the Jal Jeevan Mission as false, Finance Minister T Harish Rao has said that the Centre has not released any funds so far. Speaking to the media here on Sunday, the Minister said that the Centre has allocated the amount but not released the same. “Instead of issuing a political statement, the Niti Aayog should exert pressure on the Centre to implement the suggestions made by CAG and Finance Commission,” he said. The Minister also pointed out that the State government wrote several letters, seeking release of funds for Mission Bhagiratha in the last three years.
However, the Centre said that the Jal Jeevan Mission funds were for States that would take up piped water supply to all households and not for Telangana, which had already completed Mission Bhagiratha. “The Centre did not even approve our plan for Mission Bhagiratha. Though, the Union Ministers lauded Mission Bhagiratha as a wonderful scheme, the Centre said that Telangana had already completed the programme and the Centre’s funds would be released to those States which are taking up the scheme now,” he said. Stating that the Centre collected a whopping Rs 15,47,560 crore through Cesses and Surcharges between 2014-15 and 2021-22 and proposed to collect another Rs 5.35 lakh crore in the current fiscal, which totals to Rs 21 lakh crore, Harish Rao said that out of that the States’ share would be around Rs 8.60 lakh crore.
The Telangana’s share in Cesses and Surcharges would be Rs 42,000 crore. Harish Rao wondered why such subjects were not discussed at N i t i Aayog meetings. The Finance Minister also rejected the Centre’s claim that the States’ share in Central devolution has gone up from 32 per cent to 42 per cent. As the Centre was collecting Cesses and Surcharges, the States’ share in Central devolution has been reduced to 29.6 per cent, he pointed out. “In the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) too, the Centre’s share was reduced to 60 per cent from 100 per cent. The Niti Aayog claimed that the funds were doubled under CSSs. But, it was not correct. The State received Rs 6,000 crore under CSSs in 2015-16 and Rs 6,695 core in 2016-17 and Rs 5,223 crore in 2021- 22,” he explained.
The Centre shelved several programmes like model schools and other CSSs as a result the additional burden on the State for such schemes was Rs 2,785 crore in 2018-19, he said. Harish Rao also recalled that the Centre did not accept the recommendations of Finance Commission such as State specific grant of Rs 3,024 crore, sector specific grant of Rs 2,350 crore for Mission Bhagiratha. “Why Niti Aayog is not speaking on this? Is it Team India and cooperative federalism?” he wondered. Harish Rao described Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s decision to boycott Niti Aayog meeting as “a serious protest against the injustice done to the State”.