Taking strong exception to the allegations levelled by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on the BJP and NDA Government, the National Executive Committee member of the party K. Haribabu has said that the CM must stop the blame game and do some introspection on how the BJP had helped the State.
Speaking to The Hindu on Sunday, he said nine of the 11 Central institutes promised to the State had been sanctioned and the remaining— Tribal University and Central University— are in the making. “The budgetary allocation for the tribal varsity has been made and the Act will be passed soon. But what has the State Government done for the nine institutions sanctioned,” he sought to know.
Referring to the IIM- Visakhapatnam, he said land for the institute was handed over to the Cente on March 8. “And within a week, Mr. Naidu asked for Central funds. What was the State government doing for the last four years? Similarly, the land for the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE) is yet to be handed over,” he pointed out.
“We are not blaming the A.P. Government for the delay as we understand the bureaucratic hassles. Many projects including the Anandapuram- Pendurthi six-lane NH project are pending owing to the delay in land acquisition by the State Government. But, we are not accusing the State Government, as we understand that delay happens due to a number of reasons. It must be understood that the intention and sanction are there and one should not play blame game over it,” he reasoned.
Apart from the institutes and projects mentioned in the AP State Reorganisation Act, the Centre has sanctioned many more to the State such as IIFT, Kakinada; IIP, Kakinada, CIPET, Vijayawada; Multi-modal Logistic Hub, Vizag; Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering & Research (SAMEER), Vizag and Defence Night Vision Manufacturing Unit near Machilipatnam. “Why is the CM not speaking of these?,” he asked.
Special Category Status
The Visakhapatnam MP accused the CM of taking a ‘U’ turn and harping on Special Category Status (SCS) . Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his letter, had clearly mentioned that the SCS was only for Central assistance to put the State on firmer financial footings in the next five years and The NDA has lived to it in letter and spirit, he said.
“To bridge the gap of 30 % (60-40 ratio) for all Central projects, the NDA has released ₹16,000 crore and promised to fund all Centrally-aided projects up to 90 % through Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), to which Mr. Naidu agreed in January before taking a ‘U’ turn,” he said.
“The fund clearance was initially proposed through NABARD or HUDCO. As it would affect the FRBM parameters, the SPV was agreed upon. But, we are yet to get any response from A.P.,” he said, adding that to bridge the revenue deficit, which is a bone of contention, the Centre has agreed upon on ₹22,150 crore between 2015 and 2020, he added.
Financial grant
Further, as per the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission, the Centre has already agreed upon additional ₹5,000 crore for 10 months from 2014 to 2015, but the State Government is demanding ₹16,000, which includes farmers’ loan waiver. This is a state component, it cannot be dumped on the Central government,” said Mr. Haribabu.
On establishing of the separate railway zone, the BJP MP said, “The railway zone, Kadapa steel plant and petrochemical project in Kakinada have been cleared politically, but the port at Dugarajapatnam is on hold owing to some technical reasons, but we have asked the State for an alternative, to which the latter has not responded yet.”
