HYDERABAD: Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka has accused the previous BRS government of bringing down the state finances to a stage where the Congress dispensation had to borrow fresh loans to repay the existing debts.
The deputy CM said that the present government had borrowed Rs 52,118 crore, and repaid Rs 64,516 crore in the last one year. He also said that the government had spent Rs 24,036 crore and Rs 61,194 crore on welfare.
Vikramarka, who is Finance Minister, dismissed the allegations of opposition BRS MLA KT Rama Rao that the present government borrowed Rs 1 lakh crore since it came to power one year ago.
Addressing a news conference at the state Secretariat on the occasion of completion of one year in office, he said: “We have spent Rs 7,625 crore on Rythu Bharosa, Rs 20,617 crore on crop loan waiver, Rs 11,382 on Cheyutha, Rs 890 crore on Rajiv Aarogyasri, Rs 442 crore on subsidy on gas cylinders, Rs 1,234 on Gruha Jyothi, Rs 11,141 crore on electricity subsidy, Rs 1,514 crore for payment towards Rythu Bheema, Rs 1,647 on rice subsidy, Rs 1,375 crore to RTC towards Mahalakshmi scheme and Rs 2,311 crore to fund Kalyana Lakshmi,” he said.
Vikramarka said that they had set right the economic position of the state left in a mess by the BRS government. He claimed that from a situation where it was not even possible to give salaries on time, the Congress government is now paying salaries to 3,69,200 employees and 2,88,000 pensioners on the first day of every month.
Reflecting on the progress the Congress government has achieved in the energy sector, he said that they were striving to meet the targets of achieving 22,448 MW by 2023, and 31,809 MW by 2035. He alleged that due to the negligence of the previous government, the estimates of Yadadri and Bhadradri Thermal Power Plants had been increased.
“The BRS government entered into an agreement with Chhattisgarh for 1000 MW. But, it signed another agreement with Discoms for transmission of 2000 MW. Due to this, public money went waste,” he alleged.
He said that they will come up with energy policy shortly. He added that they were conducting a ‘caste survey’, which called it a full body health checkup, under the planning department to know which caste has how many people for spending funds for amelioration of castes in proportion to their population.