Opposition parties call Telangana budget ‘directionless’ and ‘illusionary’ with empty promises

The finance minister ignored all sections of people, including SCs, STs, BCs, and EBCs, he charged.

“It was a big disappointment for the people who were expecting that the Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao-led government will implement his pre-election promises, at least during the election year,” he said.

Stating that there was absolutely no match between what was allocated in the budget and what was spent, the BJP leader said that, in the outgoing budget, not even 50 percent of the allocations were spent. “Now, the finance minister presents a huge outlay in the present budget only to hoodwink the people,” he charged.

తెలంగాణ బడ్జెట్
అంకెల గారడీ బడ్జెట్..
గందరగోళమైన బడ్జెట్..
ప్రజల స్పందన కరువైన బడ్జెట్..

ముఖ్యమంత్రి గారి మాటల్లో చెప్పాలంటే,

సరుకు లేదు, సంగతి లేదు!
సబ్జెక్టు లేదు, ఆబ్జెక్టు లేదు!
శుష్క ప్రియాలు, శూన్య హస్తాలు!
అంతా వట్టిదే డబ్బ!
బభ్రాజమానం భజగోవిందం!!#TelanganaFlopBudget

— Bandi Sanjay Kumar (Modi Ka Parivar) (@bandisanjay_bjp) February 6, 2023

He pointed out that if the government had to waive crop loans up to ₹1 lakh, it should allocate ₹19,700 crore, but it made an allocation of only ₹6,285 crore. With regard to the much-hyped Dalit Bandhu, the government had not spent much on the scheme last year, though it had allocated ₹17,700 crore, he added.

“This year too the government made a similar allocation. If the scheme has to be implemented benefitting all Dalits in the state, it would not be possible even in another 100 years. This is nothing but cheating the entire Dalit community,” he said.

Similarly, the allocations made for STs and OBCs were too meagre, compared to their population, he said. So was the case with allocations to the education and health sectors, which would result in a heavy burden on the common man, he added.

తెలంగాణ బడ్జెట్ 2023-24 ఎలక్షన్ స్టంట్ ను తలపిస్తోందని బిజెపి రాష్ట్ర అధ్యక్షులు శ్రీ @bandisanjay_bjp విమర్శించారు. శుష్క వాగ్దానాలు శూన్య హస్తాలు… ఆత్మస్తుతి పరనింద తప్పితే ఏమీ లేదన్నారు. అన్ని వర్గాలను వంచించేలా బడ్జెట్ రూపొందించారని వ్యాఖ్యానించారు.#TelanganaFlopBudget pic.twitter.com/4bPFQFhLkB

— BJP Telangana (@BJP4Telangana) February 6, 2023

Standing up for the Centre

Bandi Sanjay said the allocations made for the irrigation and power sectors were not sufficient even to repay the borrowings and salaries of the employees. “For instance, the government allocated ₹12,000 crore to the power sector, which is not enough to clear the pending dues of the government departments to distribution companies, which are facing huge losses to the extent of ₹60,000 crore,” he said.

Finding fault with the state government for criticising the Centre for not releasing funds to the state, the BJP president said that many of the schemes mentioned in the budget document were Centre-funded. He described the promise made by the finance minister to regularise contract employees as a joke.

“While the budget outlay was projected at ₹2.90 lakh crore, the government had projected the revenue receipts as only ₹1.31 lakh crore. It is shameful on the part of the government not to show how it wants to mobilise ₹1.60 lakh crore. In fact, the central government itself will be paying ₹62,000 crore through tax devolutions and grants. And it appears the state government wants to mobilise the remaining money through sale of government lands and additional borrowings,” Bandi Sanjay criticised.

Also Read: Telangana Budget 2023 has welfare flavour to appease voters

Congress’s stand

Congress MP and former TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy described Telangana’s budget 2023-24 as “illusionary” and “directionless”. He said the proposed expenditure of ₹2.90 lakh crore was completely unrealistic as this does not match the state’s revenues.

“Apparently, for the first time in history, the finance minister’s speech had no mention of estimated revenues. He did not specify whether the budget was surplus or deficit,” he noted. The Congress MP said that there was no uniformity in the allocation of funds and that all major sectors remained neglected.

Stating an example, he said that the allocation out of the total budget for the health department was only 4.18 percent. Similarly, secondary education got just 5.54 percent, while higher education got just 1.03 percent.

రాష్ట్రంలో విద్యారంగానికి తెలంగాణ ప్రభుత్వం పెద్దపీట.. బడ్జెట్‌లో రూ.19,093 కోట్లు కేటాయింపు.@BRSHarish#TelanganaBudget2023 pic.twitter.com/bZ5rlTMAYB

— BRS Party (@BRSparty) February 6, 2023

He said that the state government did not make any provision to clear the pending fee reimbursement and scholarship dues of over ₹3,200 crore and a meager ₹3,001 crore have been allocated for the entire higher education department.

He said that there was no mention of the monthly unemployment allowance of ₹3,016, which the state government had promised to give all unemployed youth.

Further, he said that an amount of only ₹17,700 crore was allocated for the Dalit Bandhu scheme. He said that there were nearly 17 lakh poor Dalit families in Telangana and this budget could not cover even 10 percent of those beneficiaries. He said that sufficient amount was not allocated for the scheme of sheep distribution.

-దళితబంధుకు గతేడాది 17700 కోట్లు కేటాయించి, పట్టుమని వెయ్యి మందికి కూడా ఇవ్వలేదు. 2022లో 11వేల 800 దళిత కుటుంబాలకు దళిత బంధు ఇస్తామని చెప్పి మోసం చేశారు. #TelanganaFlopBudget

— BJP Telangana (@BJP4Telangana) February 6, 2023

According to Uttam Kumar, the finance minister did not mention anything about the waiver of crop loans. The chief minister had promised a farm loan waiver of up to ₹1 lakh to Telangana farmers on 2 December 2018. However, he said that crop loans up to ₹35,000 have been cleared in the last four years.

“This was the last budget of the BRS government and it failed to honour these promises. The Congress party had demanded ₹20,000 crore for the completion of ₹1 lakh loan waiver of all farmers of Telangana as more than 20 lakh farmers and their families are still waiting for it. However, the finance minister has disappointed the farmers of Telangana,” he said.

Also Read: Telangana Budget 2023: A delicate task ahead for FM Harish Rao

Uttam Kumar ridiculed Harish Rao’s claims of economic development in Telangana. He said that the finance minister did not mention anything about the debts of over ₹5 lakh crore on Telangana and the impact of their high interest and repayments on the state’s economy.

తెలంగాణ ఆర్థిక వృద్ధికి ఆటంకాలు కల్పిస్తున్న కేంద్రం : అసెంబ్లీలో ఆర్థికశాఖ మంత్రి శ్రీ హరీష్ రావు.@BRSHarish#TelanganaBudget2023 pic.twitter.com/jPRJTmt7tR

— BRS Party (@BRSparty) February 6, 2023

In fact, he dedicated his entire speech to praising the chief minister, noted Uttam Kumar. “The budget speech is considered the most sacred document for any state or country as it gives a detailed account of present economic status and future plans. However, Harish Rao’s speech lacked vision and direction. It was no more than a regular political speech delivered in praise of the chief minister,” he said.