‘Injustice to Telangana once again’: BRS slams Budget

Hyderabad: Telangana’s ruling party Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has slammed the Union Budget saying that the state has once again received a “raw deal” in the Union Budget.

In his reaction to the Union Budget 2023-24 presented in the Parliament on Wednesday, state Finance Minister T. Harish Rao said that the Centre has “again done injustice to Telangana”. He said that there was “no mention of fulfilling commitments made to the state in Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act”.

Rao said that despite repeated demands for the last nine years to set up a rail coaching factory, the Centre remained indifferent.

He described the budget as “flimsy”.

Rao said that weavers were not provided GST relief and incentives, while there was a drastic cut on fertiliser subsidy. He said injustice was done to Telangana in allocation of nursing and medical colleges.

He claimed that the number of beneficiaries under the PM Kishan scheme has been slashed.

The minister pointed out that last year, Rs 9,243 crore were allocated for procurement of cotton through Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) but this year only Rs 1 lakh has been allocated. “This as a grave injustice to cotton farmers.”

He also accused the Centre of not adhering to Fiscal Responsibility & Budget Management (FRBM) norms. He reiterated that the states were losing their share in taxes due to cesses and surcharges. He also complained of a major cut in allocations for Centrally sponsored schemes.

Agriculture Minister S. Niranjan Reddy alleged that the allocation for agriculture has been slashed by 22 per cent. He said that this again proved that the government at the Centre is “anti-farmer”.

The minister said the Centre has cut the allocation for MNREGA by Rs 29,400 crore while the allocation for PM Kisan Nidhi has not been enhanced.