Buggana pours out State's woes before Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh finance minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy here on Wednesday met Union minister of finance Nirmala Sitharaman and 'discussed with her "several AP-related" issues, according to a press release. He rubbished all claims of mismanagement of Central funds by the state and attributed the reports to mudslinging by the vested interests and the Opposition. Chief secretary of AP, Aditya Nath Das and principal secretary of the finance department, S S Rawat accompanied Rajendranath Reddy.

The visit comes in the backdrop of a letter received by the state government from the finance ministry.

The state government is faced with the unpleasant task of countering a campaign by the Opposition that state finances are under strain. It is also being alleged that it is diverting Central funds meant for various schemes to its own programmes.

Recently, it had issued a clarification countering the 'campaign' in which it said, "with respect to the Andhra Pradesh state finances and borrowings, through a misinformation campaign, attempts are being made to create widespread concern amongst the RBI, Central government, banks and financial institutions, Parliament and public. This is essentially to tarnish the image of the state and thereby cripple the state financially to reap political gains".

Rajendranath Reddy reportedly explained to the finance minister the poor revenues of the state and its financial travails in the backdrop of the economic deprivation forced on the state during the time of bifurcation. Stating that AP started off with a per capita income of Rs 8,979 compared to Telangana's Rs 15,454, he told her that all the commitments made to the state on the occasion of the bifurcation had not yet been fulfilled.

Added to this problem, the 'misgovernance' and expenditure profligacy of the TDP government resulted in the undue swelling of the liabilities of the state. At the time of bifurcation, the debt of combined state assigned to government of successor State of Andhra Pradesh was 97,123 crore and when public account share is also added to the same the figure is Rs 1,20,556 crore, the same has, over the five years increased to Rs. 2,68,225 crore, he said.

In addition, he said, owing to TDP's misgovernance during 2014-19 the state had to endure the burden of many more additional liabilities. The outstanding payables as on March 31, 2019, were to the tune of Rs 39,000 crore. The off-budget borrowings were to the tune of Rs 58,000 crore, the same were Rs 14,028 crore at the time of bifurcation. Further, the debt in the books of the power sector corporations had increased from Rs 33,587.98 crore to Rs 70,254 crore over the five year period 2014- 19.

Throwing in the power sector woes and dwindled funds from the Centre in all aspects, the condition of the finances was precarious, yet the state government was doing a commendable job in handling it, he said.

The state finance minister reportedly brought to her notice the letter received by his government recently referring to the complaint of his party's rebel MP, Raghurama Krishna Raju against the state government too to rubbish the claims.