Naidu cries for justice

He said the gap between the nascent state and its well developed neighbours would continue to exist even after 2020 if the Centre does not take a liberal view and tries to bridge the gap through new policy initiativesHe said while the Finance Commission had recommended an award of Rs 2,06,819.24 crore over the next five year period (2015- 2020 ) to Andhra Pradesh by way of devolutions, revenue deficit grants, grants to local bodies, SDRF, etc., which represents an increase over the 13th finance commission award.

But this addresses only the revenue expenditure needs which includes administration and maintenance costs of governance of the State rather than the massive development requirements of the new State which does not even have a capital city.Amongst the major eleven States with revenue deficit, Kerala and West Bengal are projected to have a revenue deficit of Rs 2,68,090 crore and 1,03,121 crore over the next five years.

However, 42% devolution from the Centre based on the Finance Commission recommendations would ensure they would have a surplus of Rs 18,119 crore and Rs 4,341 crore by 2019-2020 . Andhra Pradesh, however, would continue to be deficit even in the last year of the Commission’s award.

This clearly illustrates that Andhra Pradesh, despite being 8th largest state in terms of population, would be at the bottom of all most all States in the country during the next five years in terms of fiscal performance. While squarely blaming the UPA regime of unilaterally proceeding with bifurcation without discussing the finer details with all stakeholders, thus burning its fingers at the hustings, the Chief Minister indicated that the present NDA dispensation at the Centre needed to holistically address the issue.