HYDERABAD: Union Minister for Tourism and Culture G Kishan Reddy on Sunday said that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao boycotting the Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog and levelling ‘lame’ allegations against the Centre for not following the spirit of cooperative federalism, showed the latter’s insecurity and frustration as the BJP was making inroads in the State.
Addressing the media in New Delhi, he felt that Rao not attending the meeting, which was scheduled for Sunday, was neither good for the federal spirit nor for the people of Telangana. He also observed that the CM was spreading venomous propaganda against the Centre to divert the attention of the people from the State government’s failures.
“If you didn’t want to attend, so be it. However, don’t blame respected institutions like the Niti Aayog to further your political agenda. If you wanted to express your concerns, you could have expressed them on that forum, but not attending the meeting was unfortunate,” he told the CM.
Kishan alleged that the State government had sent notices to the Ramagundam Fertiliser Factory and ordered its closure while it was in operation, just because the Prime Minister was about to inaugurate it. He also accused the State government of obstructing the implementation of Fasal Bhima Yojn a ( crop insurance), Ayushmaan Bharat (health insurance), the national dialysis programme, Jal Jeevan Mission, and willfully delaying the payment of scholarships worth Rs 300 crore to Scheduled Caste (SC) students in Telangana. O
n the CM’s concern that despite the Niti Aayog recommending Rs 24,000 crore for Mission Kakatiya and Mission Bhagiratha projects in Telangana, the Centre was not funding them, Kishan said it showed how independent the institution was.