Budget 2024: Not a word of ‘Telangana’, says Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy
The Hindu
Telangana Minister criticizes Union Budget 2024 for neglecting the State, accusing BJP of political bias and favoritism towards allies.
Telangana Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister, N. Uttam Kumar Reddy has criticised Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for ignoring Telangana in the Union Budget 2024 presented on Tuesday.
Mr. Reddy said that the budget was politically motivated and drafted not for the people but to please Bharat Janata Party’s (BJP) allies: Janata Dal (U) and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). While Bihar was given financial aid of ₹41,000 crore, Andhra Pradesh got ₹15,000 crore and other sops, including funds for completion of the Polavaram project. Congress-ruled States, especially Telangana, were totally neglected, he said.
“This is the 11th budget after the formation of Telangana in 2014. However, the new State remained neglected by the Centre. For the first time since 2014, a separate chapter titled ‘Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act’ was incorporated in the budget speech, but the Finance Minister did not mention the word ‘Telangana’ in her entire speech of 58 pages and 14,692 words,” he said.
The Minister condemned Ms. Sitharaman for completely skipping the mention of Telangana when she spoke about the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act in her budget speech. “While we are not against the Centre giving special funds to Andhra Pradesh, we strongly condemn its discrimination towards Telangana. Led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, a delegation of Telangana ministers submitted various applications to all ministries in the last seven months seeking funds for various projects. But our pleas were completely ignored. The BJP Government promised to fund the Polavaram project, but gave no assurance in her budget speech today of giving funds for Palamuru Ranga Lift Irrigation Scheme,” he said.
“We are still hopeful that the BJP Government at the Centre will provide the funds for the Palamuru Ranga Reddy Project as assured to us by the then Union Water Resources Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat,” he said.
He ridiculed the Finance Minister’s claim that the BJP Government was making ‘concerted efforts to fulfil the commitments in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act’. “People of Telangana have been waiting for the last ten years for the BJP Government to honour the promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act. The Railway Coach Factory in Kazipet, a steel factory at Bayyaram, funds for Tribal University, funds for high-speed road and rail connectivity, and other promises made in the Act remained unfulfilled.
“If Bihar and Andhra Pradesh deserved special funds, then why is Telangana being deprived of such treatment?” he asked.
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