Steamless Budget-2020 disappoints Telangana & AP

Hyderabad: The much anticipated Union Budget-2020 gave jitters to both the Telugu states – Telangana and Andhra Pradesh as Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman did not address any demand of the two Telugu states. Andhra Pradesh people were expecting something from their ‘bahu’ (Nirmala Sitharaman is the wife of Parakala Prabhakar, a former minister in AP).

Still, it got nothing major to get from the Budget. No specific projects in national highways, railway, education or irrigation sectors, said Telangana MP Kotha Prabhakar Reddy. At the same time, Vijayasai Reddy, an MP from AP, criticised the NDA government for not honouring AP Reorganisation Act-2014 for Andhra Pradesh.

“We had submitted proposals on creating 22 organisations, but nothing was considered. The Centre is neglecting South India. Only BJP-led states got priority in the Budget. National highways, railways, irrigation, education, etc., Modi sarkar did not do anything for Telangana. The TRS government requested the Centre to grant national status to the prestigious Kaleshwaram Project. But no demand from us materialised in the Budget,” said Prabhakar Reddy.

Coming to Andhra Pradesh, the state has been suffering from revenue deficit. The Centre assured in the AP Reorganisation Act-2014 to bridge the revenue deficit, but nothing mentioned about it in the Budget observes Vijaysai Reddy.

“There is no clarity on how to double the farmer income — no proposal of developing airports in AP. We expected several sops and incentives for industrial development in Andhra Pradesh. The entire state is disappointed over not mentioning special status to AP. The Budget did not mention anything about backward districts in AP,” remarked Vijaysai Reddy.

A TDP senior leader said that “we were expecting a separate railway zone for AP, but the Centre did not announce it.”

TPCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy expressed his dissatisfaction over the Budget and said: “Union Budget-2020 is a big zero for Telangana. The Finance Minister did not even mention anything about Telangana. However, considering the ongoing economic recession, we can say the Budget is ok.”

TRS MP Nama Nageshwar Rao added that the Centre ignored the assurances mentioned in the AP Reorganisation Act-2020 for Telangana. “We submitted a proposal on setting up Tribal Museum in Telangana, but not done.”

What Telangana proposed?

Industrial corridors on Hyderabad-Warangal, Hyderabad-Nagpur, and a South Industrial Corridor connect Hyderabad with Bengaluru and Chennai.

The TRS party submitted a memorandum to the Centre to consider the financial assistance to Mission Bhagiratha and Kaleshwaram Project. The list also includes compensating the GST revenue loss of Rs1,130 crore and releasing the pending amount of Rs2,700 crore. The TRS government had asked the Centre to set up a National Investment and Manufacturing Zone at Zahirabad and National Insitute of Design at Hyderabad.

Telangana

No mention of proposals on 22 organisations

No mention of national status to Kaleshwaram Project

Nothing mentioned about highways, irrigation, railways, education, etc

Assurances under AP Reorganisation Act-2014 not addressed

No Tribal Museum

No steel plant at Bayyaram

No funding for Textile Park at Warangal

No funding for Railway Coach Factory at Khazipet

Andhra Pradesh

No Special Status to AP

No Budget allocation for the Polavaram project

No assurance on revenue deficit

No plan on developing airports