Telangana’s ruling party Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has slammed the Union Budget pointing out that the state has once again received a “raw deal” in the Union Budget.
In his reaction to the Union Budget 2023-24 presented in the Parliament on Wednesday, state Finance Minister T. Harish Rao said that the Centre has “again done injustice to Telangana”. He stated that there was “no mention of fulfilling commitments made to the state in Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act”.
Rao said that despite repeated demands for the last nine years to set up a rail coaching factory, the Centre remained indifferent.
The budget was described as “flimsy” by him.
Rao claimed that weavers were not given GST relief or incentives and that fertiliser subsidies had been drastically reduced.
He said that Telangana was treated unfairly in the allocation of nursing and medical colleges. He claimed that the number of beneficiaries under the PM Kishan scheme has been slashed.
The minister noted that while Rs 9,243 crore were allocated for cotton procurement through the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) last year, only Rs 1 lakh were allocated this year. “This is a grave injustice to cotton farmers.”
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He also accused the Centre of failing to follow Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) guidelines. He reiterated that due to cesses and surcharges, states were losing their share of tax revenue. He also complained about a significant reduction in allocations for Centrally Sponsored Schemes.
Agriculture Minister S. Niranjan Reddy claimed that agricultural funding had been cut by 22%. He claimed that this demonstrated the Centre government’s “anti-farmer” stance once more.
According to the minister, the Centre has reduced the allocation for MNREGA by Rs 29,400 crore while the allocation for PM Kisan Nidhi has not been enhanced.
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