Country’s newest state gets a horticulture university and a Debt Recovery Tribunal while Andhra gets an IIT, AIIMS, 20 industrial clusters and a host of other projects
The maiden budget of Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre has failed to cheer Telangana, the youngest state in the country. Except for setting up a horticultural university and a Debt Recovery Tribunal in Hyderabad, the budget offers nothing to the state.
Out of the 10 districts in Telangana, eight are backward. The first chief minister of the state, K Chandrasekhar Rao, soon after taking charge on June 2, had visited Prime Minister Modi in Delhi and submitted a memorandum seeking Central help in the development of the new state. The demands included special status to Telangana and national status for the Pranahita-Chevella irrigation project. “None of the demands were accepted by the Centre. The discrimination against the state is quite evident in the budget,” alleged a disappointed Rao in response to the budget.
The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014 had promised a superspeciality healthcare facility like the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for Telangana, apart from setting up institutions such as a horticulture university. Leaders and members of Parliament belonging to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi allege that while the Centre has let Telangana down, it has gone all the way to please Andhra Pradesh where the Telugu Desama Party, an ally of Bharatiya Janata Party, is ruling.
The bitterness of Telangana leaders is not baseless. While the state got a raw deal, the budget has promised to give Andhra Pradesh an AIIMS, an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), an industrial corridor between Chennai and Vizag with 20 industrial clusters, an agriculture university and a National Customs and Excise Academy. The budget has also promised incentives for developing Kakinada and Krishnapatnam ports and the status of Industrial Smart City for Krishnapatnam.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu termed the budget growth-oriented. “We are happy that the Centre has promised many projects for the state. At the same time, the state is in serious financial crisis and we want the Centre’s help to ride over the crisis,” he said in Hyderabad, addressing a press conference. He said only a token grant of Rs 1,140 crore was given to meet the budget deficit of Andhra Pradesh, while the state wanted the Centre to take care of the entire revenue gap because the bifurcation of the state was decided by the Centre.
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