Telangana shoots missives at Centre - demands release of funds

​Hyderabad: Amidst growing rift between the BJP-led Centre and Telangana after the TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced the formation of Federal Front – an alternative to BJP and Congress at national level, the Telangana government has shot off a bunch of missives to the Union ministries demanding for clearance of the projects and the release of funds pending in the present financial year 2017-18 which comes to an end on March 3.

The letters were forwarded to the Union Ministry of Surface Transportation and National Highways, Rural Development, Ministry of Medical and Health, Women and Child Development, Water Resources Development, Ministry of Railways, Law, Minority Affairs, Industries, Human Resources Development and Civil Aviation ministries. The Telangana government was demanding that the issues be addressed by the Centre and also release the funds for developmental programmes.

Officials said that the Ministry of National Highways gave nod to upgrade roads on nearly 2,500-km stretch as national highway last year. State government has taken up the land acquisition for the development of new highways but the Centre did not release its share of funds to take up the long-pending works. The works were taken up only on a few km stretch so far. 

State Roads and Buildings Minister T Nageshwara Rao and the officials have been pursuing the issue with the Centre for last two years but evoked poor response from the ministry.  Taking serious note of it, the government shot off a letter to the Union ministry demanding for the early completion of the works.  

The delay in the release of funds under Employment Guarantee scheme and the request to bring agriculture-related works under the purview of employment scheme has put the state in trouble to strengthen the farming sector as well as providing more employment to the agriculture labour. Officials said that the state Panchayat Raj and Agriculture department pursued the issues with their central counterparts and sent a strong letter to the ministries seeking their stance on the state demands.

Officials said that the government already produced Utility Certificates (UCs) for the utilisation of funds released in the first two quarters. It requested the Centre to the release of nearly Rs 1,000 crore funds pending under the National Health Mission, women development schemes and rural development programmes.  

The government also brought to the notice of the Centre the pending clearance of  Bayyaram steel plant,  railway coach factory, setting up of  All India Institute of Medical Sciences and establishment of  Horticulture and Tribal university. State Chief Secretary SK Joshi instructed all the Secretaries of the departments to pursue the release of funds seriously before the end of this financial year.