Union Minister denies bias against TS

Hyderabad: Union Minister of State for Rural Development Ramkripal Yadav dismissed the charges that the Centre is showing discrimination towards Telangana in releasing funds.
Addressing the media here on Monday, he said the Central government had not shown any discrimination towards any States in the country since the NDA had come into power in 2014.

Terming the suicides of farmers in Telangana and elsewhere in the country as painful, he, however, dismissed the charges of any discrimination towards Telangana and said, “We have allocated funds more than the State has asked for. If there is some problem for the State governments in not spending the funds given by the Centre towards various schemes of the Rural Development Ministry and others, the fault lies with the State government.”

Yadav said the BJP-led government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first to make huge allocations for rural development since Independence. Giving details of the allocations made in the budget for 2018-19, the Union Minister said the government had been working to realise the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi and Pundit Deen Dayal Upadhaya to ensure the fruits of Independence reach the poorest of the poor.

And this could be achieved only when the villages experienced development. It was towards this end, that the Centre had made huge allocation to the tune of about Rs 1.26 lakh crore for various schemes to improve the standards of living of rural people, poverty alleviation, livelihood creation and women empowerment.

All these issues hunting rural India had been addressed by initiating several schemes like Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana, Mahila Kisan Yojana, empowerment of self-help groups, extending loans through Mudra Yojana, housing and the like. Taking these efforts to the next level, the Centre had also come up with the medical cover of Rs 5 lakh to the poor which would benefit nearly 50 crore people.

“Nearly 70 per cent of people who availed loans under the Mudra Yojana were the first-timers who had availed such loans to start self-employment units to stand on their own,” However, in an obvious reference to the Congress, he said, “Some are making fun of such initiatives calling it ‘business of pakoras’”.

But, they had done nothing during their long stint in power. It was a Chaiwala who had become Prime Minister and understood well their pains and trying to improve their livelihoods to make people stand on their own. Even Dheeru Bhai Ambani had once worked as a bus conductor,” he reminded.