A day after the Centre raised eyebrows at Andhra's expenditure for the Krishna Pushkaralu, the BJP which is also an ally of the ruling TDP, demanded a white paper on the expenditure incurred.
The The Hindu quoted BJP State General Secretary S Suresh Reddy as saying
“How can a cash-strapped State spend a staggering Rs.1,600 crore on the river festival after spending Rs.1, 800 crore during Godavari Mahapushkaram last year. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu should realise that he is leading a truncated State after bifurcation with huge revenue deficit and focus on financial prudence and prioritising of expenditure."
Earlier this week, Quoting government sources, the newspaper reported that while a part of the Pushkaram expenditure did go for permanent assets like roads and power, a major part of expenditure was temporary.
“The revenue is growing at 10 per cent, which is not bad, but the expenditure has shot up by 26 per cent in these five months. This is the mismatch, and it can be curtailed only with financial prudence and prioritising the expenditure,” the sources emphasised.
The Centre has promised to provide an additional Rs 1,976.50 crore as 'special allowance' to Andhra Pradesh during the current fiscal to mitigate the losses arising out of bifurcation of the southern state.
"As part of its commitment to the people and compensate the financial impact arising out of the bifurcation of the state, the central government decides to give Special Assistance of Rs 1,976.50 crore to Andhra Pradesh during 2016-17," the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
The amount includes Rs 1,176.50 for resource gap, Rs 350 crore for development of seven backward districts covering Rayalaseema & North Coastal region and Rs 450 crore as assistance for the capital city.