Hyderabad: Former Minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir demanded a high-level probe into the observations made by the 15th Finance Commission on Telangana Government in its report submitted in the Parliament last week.
Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan on Tuesday, Shabbir Ali said that the 15th Finance Commission has exposed several instances of financial irregularities committed by the TRS Government headed by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao.
“The 15th FC made serious comments on many issues, including the Kaleshwaram Project. It vindicated the stand of Congress party that Kaleshwaram Project was not financially viable and it would not benefit the farmers,” he said.
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The 15th FC has observed that “At an estimated cost of Rs 80,000 crore, the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project aims to serve over 18 lakh acres of farmland. Lift irrigation invariably notches up a massive electricity bill, bringing to question the financial viability of the project in the absence of a guaranteed revenue stream.” It has also directed the Telangana Govt to ‘generate adequate revenue (say, through user charges) to at least cover the operations and maintenance cost of the project’.
Shabbir said that the 15th Finance Commission has also observed that the “huge investments made in irrigation have not yet resulted in commensurate returns in terms of crop yield improvements”.
He said these observations clearly show that the TRS Govt took up those projects and escalated their costs only to benefit the contractors. The Central Government should order a probe to ascertain as to why thousands of crores of public money was wasted and who gained from it. Further, he said that the TRS Govt should explain to why it did not follow the norms set by the Central Water Commission in executing those projects which could have saved several thousand crores.
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He said that the TRS Govt has burdened the common people through wasteful expenditure on Kaleshwaram Project. He said the average cost of farming through the Kaleshwaram Project comes to nearly Rs. 73,000 per acre while a farmer earns about Rs. 35,000 to Rs. 40,000 per acre. Therefore, the State Government incurs a loss of about Rs. 30,000 per acre if it utilizes the Kaleshwaram Project for cultivation. These are recurring losses that the State Govt needs to bear every season. TRS Govt went ahead with the project by rejecting the advice given by opposition parties and experts. Now the same mistake has been officially pointed out by the 15th Finance Commission, he said.
Referring to other observations made by the 15th FC, Shabbir Ali said that the State Government was not strictly complying with the constitutional provisions of constituting a State Finance Commission. After the creation of the new State, the First SFC was constituted in 2015. However, its report is yet to be submitted. He alleged that the SFC was deliberately avoided by the Chief Minister as it would have stopped fudging of budget figures. CM KCR created a false illusion of growth and resorted to indiscriminate borrowings so that the TRS leaders could get huge commissions from contractors of various projects.
The Congress leader said that the 15th Finance Commission also pointed out that the TS Govt has not set up the Property Tax Board (PTB) recommended by the 13th Finance Commission. It also pointed out that the incidence of unemployment among persons aged 15 years and above was the 5th highest in Telangana (across GS) in 2017–18. It advised the State Govt to promote labor-intensive sectors to generate higher employment.
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Shabbir Ali also demanded that the State Government supersede the Wakf Board as its members were trying to alienate prime Wakf properties to private parties. He expressed concern over the ongoing tussle between the Wakf Board members and its Chief Executive Officer Shahnawaz Qasim. Referring to some reports in the media, he said that the CEO has reportedly refused to approve some controversial decisions taken by the Wakf Board members during their meeting held on Monday.
He said it was highly regrettable that the Wakf Board was trying to alienate prime Wakf properties, including graveyards, to some private parties for the construction of hotels and other establishments. He alleged that the TRS Govt was ruining the Wakf properties although it had promised to remove encroachments by granting judicial powers to Wakf Board.
