Telangana White Paper Debate: Financial situation vs defamation claim

Hyderabad: The tabling of white paper of Telangana finances in the Assembly session saw a major rebuttal from Bharat Rashtra Samithi as former finance minister Harish Rao spoke for one hour and 50 minutes. Chief minister Revanth Reddy stated that the white paper has been tabled for the people to know the exact financial status of the state.

Exact situation before the people

Revanth Reddy in his speech said, “We have put to the people the exact situation in the state. We want to make Telangana a strong state and provide welfare to its people. When the state was handed over to BRS the positive cash blance was of 303 days. This reduced to 30 days in the year 2023-24. This is the lowest-ever figute of the Reserve Bank of India.”

The overdraft facility taken from RBI shows that there is a drastic increase in its utilization from 5 days in 2017-18 to 121 days in 2022-23, says the report.

Debt is consuming 34 percent of the state’s revenue receipts. Salaries and pensions take away 35 percent of the revenue receipts. This committed expenditure leaves very little fiscal space for undertaking welfare measures for the poorer section of the society.

Reddy said, “We are putting a clear and correct picture before the government. There will not be any arbitrary decisions taken by us. I have called Kishan Reddy to meet the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the funds due to the state. Our intention is to increase the state’s resources and direct expenditures towards uplifting the impoverished while reducing unnecessary spending.”

Don’t defame Telangana

Harish Rao was allotted time for 30 minutes but as the subject is deep and vast the speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar allowed him to speak in detail. There were interruptions in the middle which led to Harish Rao sitting down and saying, “You can talk’. And there were times of political brick bats as Rao stressed on the achievements of the state.

Rao who is also a senior member of the Assembly stated that the white paper is a ‘matter of convenience’ for the present government.

Rao says, “The ratio of debt versus revenue receipts has been taken for the report but it should have been debt versus GSDP (gross state domestic product). The capital expenditures have been taken up for the development works of the state.”

The irrigation projects were taken up to provide water and those have been duly achieved. For the Medigadda barrage he said, “I demand that a sitting judge must investigate into the matter.”

Comparing the funds sanctioned during the time of united Andhra Pradesh in Telangana, Rao said, “The funds have been utilised for development projects of the state. It is my appeal that government can borrow funds to run the state but don’t defame the state of Telangana that it is in a debt crisis.”

The Assembly session saw disruptions from time to time as both Congress and BRS legislators were upset with each other from time to time. There were political and personal jibes and the speaker chided them for the personal attacks.

Debt of Telangana

The total debt of Telangana is RS 6,71757 crores. The debt in 2014-15 was Rs 72,658 crores. The debt has created a lot of fiscal stress on the state’s finances and its ability to service the debt according to the white paper released by the Congress government. The Congress government states that there are no tangible fiscal assets in proportion to the money spent in the last 10 years.

The department of education and health which are critical sectors have the lowest total expenditure.

The white paper also noted a huge gap between budgeted and actual money spent on major welfare schemes like Dalit Bandhu and other welfare programs aimed at welfare of scheduled tribes, backward classes and other minorities in the state.

The Congress government is working with the financial experts to work out a system to come out of the debt and also fulfil its guarantee schemes promised to the people of Telangana.