Plea to develop Telangana

Hyderabad: Utilise the Telangana surplus funds for the development of the region without delay: this was the point that was repeatedly stressed by Telangana members, both Congress and Opposition, during today’s prolonged general discussion on the Budget in the Legislative Assembly.

Another feature of the discussion was that most of the speakers, while emphasising the need to augment the government’s revenues, suggested the scrapping of prohibition, which was not being enforced properly.

Congress members K. S. Narayan objected to the non- utilisation of Telangana funds for the all- round development of the region, which was economically very backward. He suggested the formulation of a five to 10- year plan for spending the surplus funds on developmental works in this region.

A. Vasudev Rao ( Congress) thanked the chief minister for his assurance that the Telangana surplus funds, amounting to more than ` 30 crores, would be spent for the development of Telangana during the next Plan period. He said that regional imbalances within the state should be removed. He suggested that the term of office of the Telangana Regional Committee, which would expire next year, should be extended by five years.

T. Sathyanarayana ( CPI) complained that Telangana funds were not being utilised properly for the development of his region. He urged the government to pay special attention to Telangana, which was a backward area.