Opposition parties charge govt. with not releasing funds in line with budgetary allocations  

Opposition parties criticize Congress government for failing to release funds for welfare schemes, questioning investment status and financial crisis.

Opposition parties have criticised the Congress government for making huge allocations to welfare schemes but not releasing funds in tune with the allocations.

The BRS, BJP and the MIM have alleged that the government’s assurances of funds remained on paper as they were not being released in time. They wanted the government to focus on release of funds so that the intended benefits of the schemes reach the targeted beneficiaries in time. The members were participating in the discussion on demands for grants pertaining to crucial sectors like welfare departments, IT and Industries on Monday.

BRS member K.P. Vivekanand demanded that the government release white paper on the status of investments and the number of units that have been grounded in the State since the Congress government took over the reins. The State government made claims on receiving investment assurances to the tune of ₹1.78 lakh crore after Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy-led delegation’s visit to Davos. “What is the status of these investments? How many units are grounded?” he asked.

He alleged that the contradictory statements issued by the Ministers and decisions like cancellation of Formula-E race had led to a negative impact on the city’s investment potential. This could be seen from the figures pertaining to IT exports and jobs created in the sector over the past couple of years. While IT exports grew 31% in 2022-23 with the creation of 1.2 lakh new jobs, the number dropped in 2023-24 with only 41,000 new jobs created. “Why is there a drop in the number? What are the expectations for 2025-26?” he asked.

BJP’s Payal Shankar expressed concern that the State was in a financial crisis and wondered how the government planned to implement the spree of welfare schemes it had assured to different sections. The government was unable to pay the retirement benefits and release medical reimbursement claims submitted by the employees. “What are the steps that are being taken to improve the financial situation?” he asked.

He lamented that the State was not releasing its share of Amrut scheme in time resulting in delays in payment by the Centre while benefits under NREGS were being denied to workers in gram panchayats that were merged with the adjacent municipalities. The numerous corporations in the name of different castes turned namesake as the government had not released funds to them on time.

MIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi lamented that though the government was making substantial allocations to welfare schemes in the budget, the actual expenditure was not matching the budget estimates. Quoting the figures from the economic support systems, he said while 22,000 people were targeted under the economic support schemes in 2023-24, the benefit was extended to 2,849 only. The situation further worsened next year with just 915 out of the 21,428 targeted covered under the schemes.