BRS releases white paper opposing state government’s claims
Hyderabad: Strongly opposing the Congress government’s white book on Telangana finances, BRS working president KT Rama Rao questioned the data presented for the first time in the Assembly. It was confirmed that the actual loan acquired by Telangana increased to Rs 3.17.015 million during the tenure of the previous BRS government, contrary to the Congress government’s claim of Rs 6.71.757 million. He accused the Congress of trying to malign the image of Telangana by portraying it as a failed state and terming its government a failed experiment.
Conducting a presentation titled “Sweda Patram” at the BRS state seat at Telangana Bhavan here on Sunday, Rama Rao highlighted the disparity between the Congress figures and the actual figures. It said that as per the norms of Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, the total debt of Telangana is Rs 3.89.673 lakh crore. Of this, Rs 72.658 crore was inherited from old Andhra Pradesh in proportion to its population. Hence, the actual loan availed during the BRS mandate increased to Rs 3.17.015 million.
In the exercise of the BRS the President also criticized the way the state government combined loans with and without state guarantee to inflate its claims. He specified that the amount of government-guaranteed loans availed by special purpose vehicles (SPVs) but supervised by the government was Rs 1.27.208 million. Additionally, government guaranteed loans received and maintained by SPVs increased to Rs 95.462 million, while unguaranteed loans received and maintained by SPVs/Corporations/Institutions increased to Rs 59.414 million. “Only loans obtained under the FRBM law are considered public debt in the entire country,” he said.
The former minister accused Congress of falsifying facts regarding loans availed by SPVs/Corporations/Entities. It said the Corporation of Civic Ministers obtained a loan of Rs 56,000 million to pay for the purchase of rice to farmers as a temporary agreement. However, there was no mention of the pending quantity or the presence of rice worth about Rs 30,000 million in the Centre’s warehouses.
Rama Rao rejected Congress’s argument as false that the old Andhra Pradesh government spent Rs 4.98 lakh crore in Telangana during 60 years. It was recorded that if this amount had been legitimately spent in Telangana, the independent movement would not have been carried out by the State. He pointed out that previous governments, according to their own white book, had spent Rs 4.98 lakh crore in 60 years, while Rs 13.72 lakh crore was spent in less than 10 years under the BRS regime.
