Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu tried to assuage Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s feeling that the State got a raw deal in the Union budget, by asking the latter to fix a meeting with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to address his grievance.
Mr. Venkaiah Naidu told a press conference here that he had a telephonic talk with the AP Chief Minister on Saturday evening when the suggestion was made to him. The Union Minister said he asked Mr. Chandrababu Naidu not to air his grievance publicly after the latter had expressed disappointment that the State was not granted special category status or funds. On the other hand, he was told to share with Mr. Jaitley how much the State expected as assistance and what it actually got, so that they can thrash out differences after Mr. Jaitley returned from his foreign tour three days later.
At the same time, Mr. Venkaiah said he had also advised Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to take up his grouse that the State did not get enough to fund programmes under the Integrated Child Development Scheme funds. The Union Minister admitted that the Rs. 100 crore allotted for Polavaram project in the budget was meagre and needed. “Yes, it is a matter of concern to me also.”
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But, the project could have got higher allocation if the detailed project report was prepared and submitted to the Centre.
The project was pending ever since its foundation stone laying ceremony when he was an MLA in 1978, Mr. Venkaiah said. Who was to blame for it? Was it not the Congress governments in the intervening period? He said the BJP-led NDA government inherited a precarious economic situation and it was trying to put the economy back on rails.
The ‘kitty’ did not permit the government to give liberal financial assistance to all States.
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