The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in Telangana has expressed disappointment with the Union Budget presented in the Parliament on Saturday, and said that many issues raised by the state government had remained unaddressed.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, TRS MP Nama Nageswara Rao said, "We have been asking for many things over the last six years, including our rightful share as per the AP Reorganisation Act. But none of that was mentioned."
"We have been asking 'national status' for the Kaleshwaram project. Even the NITI Aayog had highlighted this in 2016. We had hoped that the issue would come up during this budget. We had also asked for three areas to be declared as industrial corridors -- Hyderabad to Nagpur, Hyderabad to Bengaluru and Hyderabad to Warangal. The Centre did not accommodate this either," he added.
Speaking on the allotments made to the agricultural sector, Rao said, "They are saying that they will ensure double income to farmers by 2022. But how will they do this? That is not elaborated properly."
Pointing out that the Centre had even mentioned the Telangana government's flagship Rythu Bandhu scheme in the economic survey released on Friday, Rao said despite this, no major allocations were made to the state.
"They are planning to build a tribal museum in Ranchi. We had asked for the same thing in Telangana as well and submitted various representations over the last two months. We had high hopes. As one of the fastest growing states, the people of Telangana wished that the Centre would allocate at least something to us. It has been a disappointment," he told reporters.
"We will go through all the documents and continue to raise the issues," he added.
It was an unusually long 2 hour-41 minute budget speech by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, where she tried to come across as 'pro-farmer' while devising a new tax regime aimed at the middle class.
However, beyond the couplets and promises, the specifics showed either a marginal increase or none at all, in allocation. With very little fiscal room to manoeuvre, Sitharaman walked a tightrope.
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IANS inputs