TG budget speculative, juggling of numbers says Kishan Reddy

Hyderabad : Union Minister for Coal and Mines, G Kishan Reddy, called the Telangana State Budget for 2024-25 presented in the State Assembly on Thursday speculative and juggling of numbers.

He said nothing was seen in the budget except the Congress government boasting by breaking all the promises made before the election.

He pointed out that no provision has been made in the budget for the crop investment assistance to be given to the farmers every year before the season. “Further, the Congress promised during the election that Rs 2,500 per month would be given to women. The budget allocated for Dalit welfare has decreased from Rs 21,072 crore to Rs 7,638 crore. Similarly, the budget to be allocated for tribal welfare was Rs 4,365 crore earlier and fell to Rs. 3,969 crore now,” he said.

Kishan Reddy said that in 2023-24, the minority welfare fund which was Rs 2,000 crore has been increased to Rs 3,003 crore in this budget. This means that the budget of this quota has been increased by 30 per cent in one year.

“There is no mention of DWCRA loans, and no word about Scooties promised to college-going girls and Rs 5 lakh aid to the students under the education fund scheme. The Congress promised to fill two lakh jobs in a year. But, it cheated the unemployed. Similarly, auto drivers were promised Rs 12,000 due to loss caused by the introduction of the RTC free bus scheme for women,” he alleged.

Kishan Reddy said that in the last ten years, the entire education system in Telangana has been destroyed due to insufficient funds being allocated in the budget. To repair it, at least 15 per cent of the funds should be allocated to the education sector, but only 7 per cent of the funds have been allocated. The budget proves that both Congress and BRS are two sides of the same coin and both are pushing the state into a debt trap, he added.