Telangana Chief Minister K
Chandrasekhar Rao has expressed disappointment over the Centre allegedly not acceding to the states request to raise Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) limits and defer loans to be paid by the states.
The Chief Minister, who spoke to reporters on Tuesday after a meeting of the state cabinet, recalled that he had demanded increasing the FRBM limits during a video conference with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Centre has to bear nothing in this as the loans would be borne by the states, he said.
Observing that it is a natural process to reschedule loans in the event of adrought, he said he had sought deferment of loans to be paid by the states whether FRBM loans or any other loans -- in view of the ongoing difficult period.
"It is a small thing. Why is not the Centre doing it? I am surprised really. What is the burden on the Centre? What is this policy? We are not able to understand. For the attitude of the Centre, I really feel sorry. We will also express our protest," he said.
The state is waiting to see if the Centre has any particular policy on this and it would respond seriously when the occasion comes, he said.
what to do if the situation becomes difficult, either you give us (money) or give us powers, he said.
The cabinet meeting has also discussed a new power bill reportedly being proposed by the Centre, he said, adding that his government would strongly oppose it as it allegedly seeks to take away the powers of the states.
The bill proposes to take away the powers of the states to appoint Electricity Regulatory Commission (ERC) and vest them with the Centre, he said.
The previousCongress regime had shifted subjects in concurrent list to the Centre and the present government seems to be centralising powers more, he alleged. This is against the federal spirit, he said.
The Chief Minister said the TRS would oppose the bill in parliament and not let it pass, Rao said.
He took exception to Rs 2,500 crore allegedly being recovered from the state as part of debt servicing during the ongoing difficult time though the state sought deferment of loans.
The state would wait for some time and take up an appropriate action plan if things went beyond a limit, he said.
He found fault with the NDA government for allegedly not coming to the rescue of states at a time when they are passing through difficult times.
The states revenue has fallen to Rs 1600 crore per month against about Rs 11,000 crore, he said.
The Centre may not have the funds but the broad fiscal policy in the country is with the Centre, he said. Recalling that he had sought either funds or transfer of powers from the Centre, he alleged that the NDA government has not responded on his request.
He also took exception to the railways charging money to run special trains to ferry migrant workers. The state government has paid Rs four crore on Tuesday as advance to run special trains, he said. Doesnt the Centre have money to give railway charges?, he added.
He recalled having suggested to Home Minister (Amit Shah) to run special trains instead of getting a bad name.
Rao had announced extension of lockdown in the state till May 29, after the cabinet meeting. The lockdown was due to end on May 7.
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