Appropriation Bill passed by voice vote
The Telangana State Legislature on Tuesday unanimously approved the Appropriation Bill of 2018-19 by a voice vote.
The Bill was introduced in the Legislative Assembly by finance minister Etela Rajender. The Opposition parties — BJP, TD and CPM — slammed the government for introducing populist schemes in the Budget to attract voters, keeping the 2019 elections in mind.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao responded by saying, “In a democracy, the duty of political parties is to attract voters. What’s wrong with that? All political parties do it. Why this hypocrisy?"
MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi, BJP leader G. Kishan Reddy, TD leader Sandra Venkata Veeraiah and CPM MLA Sunnam Rajaiah participated in the debate.
Mr Owaisi said that though `1,000 crore had been allotted for the welfare of minorities in the previous Budget, only `800 crore had been released. He asked the government to ensure that funds were completely utilised in the upcoming financial year.
Mr Kishan Reddy dismissed the government’s claims of submitting a revenue surplus Budget every year. He said that in reality, the government was facing debt. He said the payment arrears amounting to several thousands of crores was
In his two-hour response, the Chief Minister said that Telangana had made rapid strides in all sectors over the past four years.
pending with the finance department.
In his two-hour response, the Chief Minister said that Telangana had made rapid strides in all sectors over the past four years.
“The state’s per-capita income and GDP are higher than the national average. This shows the strong financial state of Telangana’s economy. There are only eight states in the country which contribute more funds to the Centre than they receive from it, of which Telangana is one. We pay over `50,000 crore to the Centre in the form of various taxes every year, but receive less than `25,000 crore in return,” Mr Rao said.
He added that the TRS government had been successful in increasing its Budget and achieving its targets for expenditure for the past four years.
Referring to allegations that the TRS government was pushing the state towards a debt crisis, Mr Rao said, “The broad fiscal policy of the country lies with the Centre. No state is allowed to obtain loans for above 3.5 per cent of its GSDP, as per the Centre’s FRBM Act. We secured loans that we are eligible for.
The possibility of Telangana securing more loans does not arise.”