HYDERABAD: The Union Budget presented on Sunday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman ran contrary to the spirit of the Constitution and undermined the principle of cooperative federalism, IT Minister D Sridhar Babu said.
He said the Constitution recognises India as a Union of states and makes it clear that national development is not possible without the financial self-reliance of states. However, he alleged that the Centre disregarded this principle in the latest Budget.
Expressing disappointment that Telangana was not mentioned even once in the Budget speech, despite contributing over 5% of the country’s GDP, according to official estimates, Sridhar Babu said the slogan of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas” had once again failed to translate into equitable treatment for Telangana.
“While the Centre speaks of inclusive development, it has adopted a discriminatory approach towards Telangana in financial allocations,” he said, adding that such an approach violated the principle of constitutional morality. He alleged that political considerations had taken precedence over economic rationale, resulting in injustice to the state.
The minister pointed out that the Centre had projected grants of Rs 22,782 crore to Telangana for the current financial year, but the state had received only about Rs 4,000 crore even after 10 months, which was less than 20% of the amount due, terming this “fiscal suppression”.
He said the Constitution mandates equitable distribution of resources between the Centre and the states, but the latest Budget once again reflected a violation of cooperative federalism.
Sridhar Babu also said the Centre had ignored repeated representations from the state seeking allocations for key infrastructure and development projects, including the Regional Ring Road, Metro Rail Phase-2, the Godavari-Musi river linkage, the greenfield highway between Bandar Port and Hyderabad dry port, new airports, improved rail connectivity, and funds for pending assurances under the AP Reorganisation Act.
He demanded that the BJP MPs from Telangana explain the Centre’s treatment of the state to the people and urged the Union government to adhere to the constitutional principle of equality and treat all states fairly.
Sridhar Babu also stressed the need for greater Central support to encourage entrepreneurs to establish semiconductor manufacturing units in Telangana.