Nalgonda MP and former TPCC President N. Uttam Kumar Reddy has opposed Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s proposal to sell prime land across the State to private parties to raise funds.
Speaking to media persons during his visit to various villages as part of the Rachabanda/Rythu Bharosa Yatra in Suryapet district, he said the government has directed the District Collectors to send details of leased government lands to the headquarters on a war footing thus beginning the process to sell thousands of acres of prime land in different districts to raise funds.
“Land is considered the biggest asset of any government in the country. But the TRS Govt is preparing to sell government land to meet the day-to-day financial needs. This is highly objectionable and the Congress would never allow it,” he said.
He said that the KCR Govt was reportedly identifying about 500 acres of government land in each district for sale and this would be disastrous as there will be no land left for the government to construct its offices, schools, colleges, hospitals or other institutions in future.
Mr. Reddy reiterated that Telangana was facing a severe financial crunch and the State's exchequer would be empty soon. After much persuasion, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted the State Government to raise ₹4,000 crore by selling the security bonds as against the request to borrow ₹52,167 crore loans during the current financial year. But this money would not be sufficient to run the government even for a month.
After raising loans of ₹5 lakh crore in the last eight years, KCR has been cheating people with false figures in the budgets. To show high growth rates, it counted loans and borrowings as income without realising that the money taken from the open market needs to be returned along with high-interest rates.
Consequently, today the annual expenditure on Interest Payment (₹ 18,911 cr) is higher than the money spent on pension (₹11,384 cr) and subsidy (₹12,049 cr).
