We cleared Rs 40,000 cr dues of TDP govt: FM Buggana Rajendranath Reddy

Vijayawada: Minister for finance Buggana Rajendranath Reddy vehemently rejecting the allegations of former minister and TDP politburo member Yanamala Ramakrishnudu on state's finances said that the previous TDP government had failed to clear Rs 40,000 crore pending bills, including midday meal scheme dues.

Speaking to media persons at the Secretariat on Wednesday, the minister refuted the allegations of Ramakrishnudu on zero interest loans saying that the TDP government had not credited Rs 784.71 crore towards zero interest loans and the YSRCP government cleared them after coming to power. He said that the state government released Rs 1795.45 crore towards input subsidy for tenant farmers. By distributing CCRC cards to 8.76 lakh tenant farmers, Rs 5,915 crore crop loans were provided to tenant farmers, he said.

Referring to remarks on meters to agricultural pump sets, the finance minister said that the meters were fixed to improve efficiency in power supply and there will not be any burden on or loss to farmers.

On sustainable development goals, the minister said Andhra Pradesh scored 77 during 2020-21 in sustainable development goals, whereas during TDP regime in 2018-19, the score was only 68.

Referring to Ramakrishnudu's comments on Aarogyasri, Rajendranath Reddy said that the state government included 3,255 medical services in Aarogyasri, while the number medical services stood at 1,059 during TDP government.

The finance minister said that there was no truth in the allegations of Ramakrishnudu on health, education and welfare schemes. He said that while the increase in state government debts was 15.46 per cent during the past three years, the increase in debt rate was 19.55 per cent during TDP regime.

The finance minister alleged that the TDP leaders were intentionally resorting to false propaganda on the state government schemes and advised them to visit villages to know the reality instead of levelling false charges.