Welcoming the tax-free revenue surplus budget presented by the State government for the year 2018-19, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi has, however, expressed concern over the rising public debt. he MIM member, who initiated the debate on the budget on Monday, said while the total expenditure of the State for the next fiscal was pegged at ₹1.74 lakh crore, the debt burden is expected to reach ₹1.8 lakh crore during the same period. The debt is in addition to the ₹41,539 crore outstanding guarantees given by the government.
He launched a trenchant attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government for meting step-motherly treatment to the two Telugu States and turning a deaf ear towards the requests made by them. The two States together presented budget to the tune of ₹3.65 lakh crore which was next only to Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, but the devolution of Central grants and share of Central taxes is not matching the requirements of the States, he said.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao met the Prime Minister and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley several times to represent the State’s issues, including according national project status to Kaleshwaram project and assistance for Mission Bhagiratha recommended by the Niti Ayog. But the efforts did not materialise so far. “The Prime Minister has inaugurated the Mission Bhagiratha scheme, but is not willing to release money in line with the recommendation made by the Niti Ayog,” he said.
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He expressed concern over the projections given on the devolutions from the Centre in the budget claiming that these were unlikely to be achieved going by the huge variation in the projection and actual releases over the past few years. Appreciating the government for achieving double-digit growth in spite of the adverse impact of the demonetisation and introduction of GST on the State’s finances, he, however, said the projection relating to devolution from the Centre were on the higher side. “This will lead the State with no option but for higher borrowings,” he said.
Mr. Owaisi was particularly critical of the State government in not releasing the funds allocated for welfare of minorities. This would be seen from the fact that only ₹819 crore out of the ₹1,249 crore budgeted during the current financial year was released so far with 12 days left for the completion of the fiscal. “The treasury department has not released ₹150 crore so far,” he said.