 "JP lashes out at rivals for 'irresponsible promises'")
Loksatta Party president, Jayaprakash Narayan, lashed out at the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) for making “irresponsible promises that would ruin the economies of the two emerging states” of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Narayan told mediapersons here on Monday that these parties do not utter a word in their manifestos on fulfiling their constitutional obligations but make wild promises solely with an eye on garnering votes in the elections now under way.
He reeled out facts and figures to drive home the point that the promises costing tens of thousands of crores of rupees could never be fulfiled going by the combined states receipts and expenditure.
According to him, the party’s move is devoid of any rationale since there is no problem with enrolment of children in schools. In fact, school enrolment in the 5-10 age group is occasionally even 105 percent as even 11-year-olds happen to be students in some cases.
Similarly, he said, the TDP and the YSRCP have promised loan waivers for self-help groups and the TDP and the TRS for farmers. Roughly, the loans to be written off for the two groups in the united state work out to Rs 70,000 crore. Some of these parties promises include higher pensions to the aged, widows and physically challenged, additional gas subsidy, construction of houses costing Rs 3 lakh each in 125 square yards, allocation of three acres of cultivable land to each landless family, irrigation facility to 100,000 acres in every constituency, generation of 13,000 Mw of additional power in Telangana and 12 percent reservations for minorities.
Narayan pointed out that the united state’s total receipts in 2012-13, including loans amounted to Rs 1,27,000 crore while the expenditure was Rs 1,29,000 crore. The two states will have deficits to start with if the pay revision for staff is considered. “How could the upcoming governments make good their promises against such a backdrop?”, he asked and added that the parties were taking people for a ride with an eye on votes in the coming elections.
Narayan also wondered how minorities could be given 12 per cent reservation when the reservations already in force account for 50 percent, the ceiling imposed by the Supreme Court. He also wanted to know how could seven hours of power be supplied to the farm sector during the peak load time as generation of an additional 13,000 Mw of power and the building of a network for its transmission and distribution would together cost Rs 100,000 crore.
He also took exception to the YSRCP proposal to refer policy decisions for prior clearance by the High Court or the Comptroller and Auditor General to preempt charges of corruption. He said there was no such provision in the Constitution.
Narayan told mediapersons here on Monday that these parties do not utter a word in their manifestos on fulfiling their constitutional obligations but make wild promises solely with an eye on garnering votes in the elections now under way.
He reeled out facts and figures to drive home the point that the promises costing tens of thousands of crores of rupees could never be fulfiled going by the combined states receipts and expenditure.
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For instance, he said, the YSRCP promised to deposit Rs 500 a month per student if parents send their children to school and Rs 700 to Rs 1,000 a month for students in colleges. This alone would cost over Rs 13,000 crore every year and would do nothing to improve the quality of education.
According to him, the party’s move is devoid of any rationale since there is no problem with enrolment of children in schools. In fact, school enrolment in the 5-10 age group is occasionally even 105 percent as even 11-year-olds happen to be students in some cases.
Similarly, he said, the TDP and the YSRCP have promised loan waivers for self-help groups and the TDP and the TRS for farmers. Roughly, the loans to be written off for the two groups in the united state work out to Rs 70,000 crore. Some of these parties promises include higher pensions to the aged, widows and physically challenged, additional gas subsidy, construction of houses costing Rs 3 lakh each in 125 square yards, allocation of three acres of cultivable land to each landless family, irrigation facility to 100,000 acres in every constituency, generation of 13,000 Mw of additional power in Telangana and 12 percent reservations for minorities.
Narayan pointed out that the united state’s total receipts in 2012-13, including loans amounted to Rs 1,27,000 crore while the expenditure was Rs 1,29,000 crore. The two states will have deficits to start with if the pay revision for staff is considered. “How could the upcoming governments make good their promises against such a backdrop?”, he asked and added that the parties were taking people for a ride with an eye on votes in the coming elections.
Narayan also wondered how minorities could be given 12 per cent reservation when the reservations already in force account for 50 percent, the ceiling imposed by the Supreme Court. He also wanted to know how could seven hours of power be supplied to the farm sector during the peak load time as generation of an additional 13,000 Mw of power and the building of a network for its transmission and distribution would together cost Rs 100,000 crore.
He also took exception to the YSRCP proposal to refer policy decisions for prior clearance by the High Court or the Comptroller and Auditor General to preempt charges of corruption. He said there was no such provision in the Constitution.