HYDERABAD: Describing the State Budget as a disappointing one, Congress leaders on Monday said that Finance Minister T Harish Rao failed to make any allocations to fulfil the “tall promises” made by the government, including farmers loan waiver, unemployment allowance and other proposed schemes.
CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka termed the Budget as a “jugglery of numbers, a colourful dream”. “In fact, it is a repetition of the previous Budget presented with a dash of “self-admiration”,” he said.
Lashing out at the lack of high allocations for farmers loan waiver as promised, Vikramarka said: “As many as 16 lakh bank accounts turned out to be non-performing assets (NPAs) and the farmers were not given any fresh loans. There are no allocations for the promises made in the past.”
“Neellu, Nidhulu, Niyaamakaalu, and self-respect are nowhere to be seen in the annual financial statement. The government tried to project it as a full-fledged Budget and a colourful dream, and nothing else,” he said.
He also dismissed it as a “disappointing Budget” as no allocations made for the pre-poll promises and neither there was any mention of Girijana Bandhu scheme in line with Dalit Bandhu.
Directionless & unrealistic
Describing the Budget as ‘illusionary’ and ‘directionless’, Nalgonda MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the proposed expenditure of Rs 2.90 lakh crore was “unrealistic” as it is “unmatchable to the State’s actual revenues”. “Apparently for the first time in history, the Finance Minister’s speech had no mention of estimated revenues. He did not specify whether the Budget was surplus or deficit,” he said.
Ridiculing Harish Rao’s claims of economic development in Telangana, he said that the finance minister did not mention anything about the debts of over Rs 5 lakh crore and the impact of their high interest and repayments on the State’s economy.
“The Budget speech is considered the most sacred document for any State or country as it gives a detailed account of present economic status and future plans. However, Harish Rao’s speech lacked vision and direction. It was no more than a regular political speech delivered in praise of KCR,” he said.
‘SUPERFICIAL & CONFUSING’
MLC T Jeevan Reddy said that the Budget was a repeat of the previous one. “Rs 17,700 crore was proposed for the Dalit Bandhu scheme in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 Budgets, but not a single rupee was released. There was no clarity even on the allocations made as to where and how the government is going to spend the money. The government has promised 80,000 jobs,” he said.
MLA D Sridhar Babu said that the Budget was a superficial and confusing financial statement. “People are watching how the government showed revenue receipts of Rs 41,000 grant-in-aid from the Centre even while claiming that they are not receiving any funds from the Centre.,” he said.