Jagan's retrograde policies hampering development of AP: Yanamala Ramakrishnudu

Amaravati: The chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's retrogressive policies have paralyzed the State revenues from last one year, lambasted former finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu on Sunday, in a press release. He explained that at least 50 percent declined in the State revenue.

The TDP leader slammed the government for increasing revenue deficit from Rs. 41,000 cr to Rs. 70,000 cr in a year. The decrease in revenue was attributed to Coronavirus lockdown though its impact was there only on the last nine days of the just concluded Financial Year, he explained.

Ramakrishnudu said that the deficit in revenue was leading to nill development and consequential loss of work and employment opportunities for different sections of people in the State.

He said that the Government cut crucial capital expenditure by 50 percent. The TDP leader said that the Chief Minister miserably failed to increase income and revenue expenditure because of his misplaced priorities. He added that the YSRCP budget expenditure went up by just Rs. 3,000 cr in one year as against Rs. 17,000 cr under TDP in the first year.

Ramakrishnudu deplored that the Government hiked borrowings by 135 per cent while this was just 30.70 per cent under TDP. Excluding borrowings, revenue receipts came down to Rs. 86,000 cr only. Due to reduced capital expenditure, overall development took a backseat. In addition to that the remaining small quantum of revenue was misused without focusing on wealth creation, he added. Priority was given to non productive sectors, he criticised.

Ramakrishnudu said that thousands of crores were wastefully spent on painting YSRCP colours to government buildings, Rs. 4,000 cr was being looted every year to pay their party activists on the name of volunteers and Grama Secretariat jobs.

If these funds were spent on Polavaram, another 10 percent works would have been completed on the lifeline irrigation project. While Rs. 16,128 Cr was allocated for irrigation, just Rs. 3,566 cr was spent in the first year, he stated. Even the Rs. 1,850 cr Central funds released for Polavaram were diverted to other non productive programmes, Ramakrishnudu alleged.