Kishan livid over KCR's remarks against Centre

Hyderabad: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy asked Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao not to blame the Centre to cover up his own mistakes. Taking strong exception to the statements of Chandrashekar Rao at a media conference addressed on Friday, he said, "The Chief Minister's statements inside the House and outside, blaming the Centre for not doing anything to Telangana during Covid-19 is misleading.

When it is the time for the States and the Centre to join hands to combat the fallout of the Covid-19, it is unfortunate to hear the elected head like Chief Minister making intemperate and misleading statements against the Centre.

Calling the statements of Chandrashekar Rao against the Centre baseless, he listed out the details of the material and financial assistance given to the State under various heads.

He said that seals of 500 out of the 1,400 new ventilators allocated to the State by the Centre were not even opened.

Dismissing the TRS chief's allegations, he said that the Centre had been doing everything without discriminating any State or region within the resources available of the country.

Kishan Reddy challenged the Chief Minister saying, "I have said several times what all the Centre had extended to the State. Let the Chief Minister dispute them."

Appreciating the efforts of the State Health Minister Eatala Rajender struggling to give his best in dealing with Covid-19, Kishan Reddy rolled out the data about how the Centre had extended financial help to farmers, women, self-help groups, workers, MSMEs and others through the direct benefit transfer.

While meeting the State's requirements, the Centre should also need to meet the requirements to deal with the situations arising on the international borders, he said and asked whether the assistance extended to the people in State by the Centre was not beneficial to Telangana?

He asked the TRS chief what stopped him not to include Covid-19 in the Arogyasri at a time when people were facing hardships in clearing their medical bills at private hospitals?

Taking a jibe at the TRS chief, he said Chandrashekar Rao was not in the habit of speaking facts and listed out the Centre-funded Basti Dawa khanas, a component in the KCR Kits and dialysis centre in every district. Also, how people were deprived of the Centre extended benefits of housing schemes, credit-linked loan subsidy scheme for housing and Ayushman Bharat which also covers Covid-19 treatment, he asked.