In a sharp attack on the NDA government at the Union government, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday, March 15, alleged that the country's economic progress and performance has declined in comparison with the previous UPA regime and that the present NDA dispensation hurt federal spirit. Rao, who has been extremely critical of the BJP and the Union government in recent months, dismissed the BJP's talk about "double engine growth" in Uttar Pradesh and said Telangana is better placed than the northern state on various development parameters.
Rao, who was speaking in the Legislative Assembly, also said the state government would bear the educational expenses of medical students who returned to Telangana from Ukraine and make them study "here" so that their studies are not not discontinued. He asked the Health Minister and Chief Secretary to write to the Union government on the issue.
He told the Assembly that the state government will write to the Union government to give permission to 740 students who returned from Ukraine to complete their MBBS course. "To study MBBS in India, it was costing them over Rs 1 crore and since they could not afford this they went to Ukraine where they had to pay Rs 20-25 lakh," he said.
Invoking Constitutional principles on Union-states, Rao, popularly known as KCR, alleged that the "present Central government" has done many oppressive actions in a manner of suppressing the states and as if to question their existence.
"Definitely, the Central government's performance is very bad compared to us. There is a lot of difference between their (performance) and ours. Either per capita income, GDP or any other, the Union government's performance is disastrous," he said, speaking in the Legislative Assembly on Appropriation Bill. The "present Central government is terribly hurting federal spirit," he claimed.
Citing examples, he said the Union government has proposed to change the rules concerning the service of All India Service officers in a way the Union government can call them to work in Delhi at any time. His government has found fault with the idea when the Union government has written to the state on the matter, he said.
Highlighting the importance of having an ecosystem that propels development, as seen in the growth of the IT industry in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, Rao said the future of lakhs of youth in the country would be in question if such an ecosystem is destroyed.
Referring to the Hijab row in neighbouring Karnataka, he asked what government has to do with the style of dressing of different sections of society and deprecated alleged attempts to foment communal trouble. Alleging that the country has now slipped on the economic situation and government's performance compared to the UPA regime, he said the growth which was eight percent earlier has now fallen to six percent.
Saying that the coronavirus pandemic is not the reason for the decline in economy, he said: "Much before the coronavirus pandemic, the decline in the financial progress of the country has taken place". Telangana's GSDP has grown from five lakh crores to 11.50 lakh crore, he said.
During the last seven years, the country's GDP has grown from 124 lakh crores to 236 lakh crores. The growth rate of Telangana is 38% higher than the country's growth rate, he said.
While the GDP has fallen from eight percent to six percent, over five lakh organisations and industries have shut down in the country, unemployment rate rose, the country fared poorly on hunger index, and the nation is doing badly in protection of individual rights and also in human development index, he claimed. These are all the details put out by international organisations, Rao said.
However, "religious madness" is being promoted, he claimed. The "religious madness" will cause harm to the country, he said. Referring to BJP's slogan of "double engine growth" in Uttar Pradesh, without naming the party, he said it is an attempt to "golmal" (mislead etc) the people.
When Telangana is compared with Uttar Pradesh where "double engine growth is happening", Telangana's per capita income is Rs 2.78 lakh, while UP's per capita income is Rs 71,000, he said. UP's economic growth rate is 7.26, while Telangana's growth rate is 10.8%, he said.
Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) in UP is 167, while it is only 56 in Telangana. Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in UP is 41, while it is 23 in Telangana, he said. On the occasion, Rao announced that salaries on par with government staff would be paid to the about 4,000 employees of Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) and that 'field assistants' of NREGS who had gone on strike would be taken back into service. The House was adjourned sine die after the debate on the Appropriation Bill.