The maiden budget by the Narendra Modi led government on Thursday gave a short shrift to the aspirations of Telangana if the announcements made by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is any indication.
Barring setting up of a Horticultural university and a Debt Recovery Tribunal in Hyderabad, there is no other mention in the budget. The AP Reorganisation Act 2014 had promised to establish a Horticultural University besides an AIIMS type super speciality hospital for Telangana.
While the promise to set up a Horticultural University was conceded, it was a disappointing day for the TRS MPs and others as the Centre chose to shower a series of projects on Andhra Pradesh. The Union Finance Minister made a passing reference that special provisions would be made for the States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. He did not specify what the special provisions implied for the two States.
The disappointment was clearly visible as the TRS MP from Nizamabad Kavitha charged that the Union budget looked more like one exclusively for Andhra Pradesh. The TRS MPs on the other hand demanded that Telangana should be accorded special status. Alleging that injustice has been done to Telangana, the TRS MPs said the BJP gvernment chose to favour the States where its allies were ruling.
There are eight backward districts in Telangana, but the Centre has not made any announcement for it. They sought to know why the central government did not take into consideration the 14 issues that were raised by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao during his Delhi visit recently.
