Union Budget leaves Telugu states disappointed

Hyderabad, July (IANS) Both the Telugu states were disappointed by the Union Budget 2019-20 presented in the Parliament on Friday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The ruling parties in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh criticised the Budget, saying there was hardly any allocation for the states.

The Budget proposals for Andhra Pradesh included Rs 1,400 crore for Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Rs 32 crore for petroleum university, Rs 13 crore for central university and Rs 8 crore for tribal university.

However, no funds were allocated for the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Tirupati. Also, no allocation was made for other central institutes such as the IIM, NIT, IISR and IIIT.

The Budget had no mention of the commitments made under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. It skipped the issues such as construction of Andhra Pradesh capital, funds for Polavaram project and the revenue deficit.

For Telangana, the Budget allocated Rs 80 crore for IIT, Hyderabad.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader in Lok Sabha N. Nageswara Rao termed the Budget as 'disappointing'. He said they were hoping that the Centre would announce some projects for the state but there was no announcement. Similarly, the Budget also did not extend any concession for the irrigation projects.

Andhra Pradesh's ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) slammed the Centre for ignoring the state in the Budget. YSRCP parliamentary party leader Vijaya Sai Reddy said the Budget allocations had left them disappointed. He said the Budget did not even mention the issues included in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.

Andhra Pradesh's leader of opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu also came down heavily on the Budget for the raw deal meted out to the state.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief alleged that the Budget was not in tune with the aspirations of the people of the country and Andhra Pradesh.

He said the Budget had nothing to increase the purchasing power of the common man or the middle class, nor did it meet the aspirations of the farmers, women and youth.

Naidu said the Budget was highly disappointing for Andhra Pradesh as it ignored the issue of special category status to the state and the provisions of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.