Hyderabad, July 23 (NSS): Responding to the negligence of Telangana State in the Union Budget 2024-25 by the Union Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, BRS party working president KTR said “We hoped that the Telugu daughter-in-law would allocate significant funds to Telangana in the Union budget. But what we got was nothing. Despite having a budget of over Rs 48 lakh crore, only a few States received major benefits. It is disappointing that Telangana was not mentioned in the budget. Once again, Telangana has received nothing”.
He said in the past, former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had requested the Union government to take decisions on nearly 35 promises made under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act. “We have repeatedly written letters and made appeals. But, there is no mention of additional funds for Mulugu University, the Bayyaram Steel Factory, or the Railway Coach Factory in Kazipet. Despite our requests, national status has not been granted to any irrigation project in the State.
“We requested for Central national institutes such as IIM, but not a single one was given. We asked for funds for industrial corridors from Telangana to Mumbai-Nagpur, and Hyderabad – Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai, but there was no response. We also requested establishment of a new handloom cluster along with a mega power loom cluster, but the Central government did not respond. Even the requests made by the present Chief Minister and Ministers from Telangana during their visits to Delhi were ignored. Once again, Telangana has received nothing in this Union budget.
“The people of Telangana should think about what happened when they gave 16 seats to national parties like BJP and Congress. They should consider the funds allocated to Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, which have more seats in parliament, and compare it to Telangana regional force. BJP and Congress MPs sitting in Parliament did not speak a word on behalf of Telangana. If there were MPs from our party in Parliament, they would have strongly opposed the Central government’s stance. Telangana people will certainly teach a lesson to the BJP government for giving zero funds despite having eight MPs. We have no issue with the funds given to Andhra Pradesh. The Central government did not mention the word ‘Telangana’ even once when discussing the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act. They announced special funds for the capital Amaravati, Polavaram, and industrial development. They promised special funds for Andhra Pradesh industrial corridors. We are happy with the significant funds given to Andhra Pradesh. But it is truly disappointing to see that only Andhra Pradesh and Bihar received funds while the remaining 26 States were overlooked. Union Finance minister mentioned the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, but ignored the demands of Telangana,” he bemoaned.
