Kishan tears into BRS for lower budget allocation for infra devpt

Hyderabad: Union Minister for Culture Tourism and the Development of the North Eastern region (DoNER) G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday took a dig at the BRS on development of Telangana. Taking to Twitter, in a series of tweets, he highlighted the BRS turning a blind eye towards development in Telangana. The Minister specifically highlighted the reduced spending and budgetary allocations in all major social sectors in the recent budget.

He stated that the Chief Minister of Telangana and the BRS party are ignoring the welfare of people of the State. Such actions clearly indicate the priorities of the State government. The minister specifically spoke about the neglect of education, healthcare, roads, rural and urban spending, and expenditure for law and governance.

Reddy wrote that even after repeated lapses there has been no effort to improve the existing poor basic infrastructure in government schools of Telangana. The spending of the government on human resources and education continues to be abysmally low and well below the national average. The national average spending of the Central government is 14.8 per cent, whereas the State government only spends 7.6 per cent in the education sector.

While highlighting the spending and budget allocation by the government to health care is only five per cent, as against the national average of States at 6.3 per cent he wrote that KCR considers Telangana a "jewel in the country" in terms of healthcare, but not in terms of spending and budget allocation. The minister also highlighted the low spending and budget allocation to infrastructure development in the State. He wrote roads and bridges are crucial to foster economic activity in the region. However, the CM believes that "Bangaru Telangana" doesn't need high-quality infrastructure. The budget allocation for bridges and roads is just 3.7 per cent, as against 4.5 per cent national average.

The State government only allocates 2.8 per cent of budget for urban development. Even in this sector Telangana is lower than the national average spending. The Union minister wrote "no wonder we see such a skew in development within Hyderabad itself where many parts are totally neglected". "The government has been ignoring the needs and requirements of rural Telangana. The budget allocation for rural development is witnessing a gradual reduction every year under KCR rule. The Union minister said, "he has totally failed in providing the necessary cushion to rural livelihoods".

"The law and order in the State is witnessing degradation and touching a new low over time. The same is reflected in the budget allocation for police in the State," he stated.