Don’t curse state for politics: KCR to Oppn

CM claims TRS regime did not push state into debt trap

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao appealed to the Opposition parties on Sunday not to curse their own state for the sake of “silly politics”.

While replying to the discussion on the Budget in the House, the Chief Minister said that whoever puts obstacles in the way of the growth of the state for silly politics will be ruined.

He said that nationwide there is discussion on the economic slowdown and it would obviously have an impact on the state budget too.

Refuting the allegation of the Congress members that the TRS has made Telangana a debt-ridden state, Mr Rao said the government is taking loans and investing in irrigation projects.

On the day the separate state came into existence, the state debt was `75,000 crore. The TRS government has repaid around

`7,000 crore and the current debt is `69,000 crore, apart from the loans taken for the irrigation projects.

“We are not taking loans for our houses, we are investing in projects. Through the Kaleshwaram Project we will provide water to irrigate 40 to

44 lakh acres in the coming monsoon. If there is water then crops, fish and prawn production automatically improves and we will clear the debt in just two years,” the Chief Minister said.

Stating that taking a loan is not a crime, the Chief Minister pointed out that the FRMB limit is

25 per cent and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to reduce the limit. “I told the PM to his face ‘don’t curtail the growth of the states.’ Telangana is one of the five states generating more revenue for the country.”

He said that the allegation made by the Congress that the ST and SC SubPlan funds were diverted is absolutely baseless, and in fact the state government released 15.4 per