Farming and irrigation got the lion’s share in Telangana’s 2023-24 budget presented by state finance minister T Harish Rao in the assembly on Monday that had a total outlay of ₹290,396 crore .
While ₹26,885 crore was allocated for irrigation, ₹26,831 crore was allocated for agriculture. Continuing its focus on farming, the state government allocated ₹6,385 crore towards a crop loan waiver scheme of up to ₹1 lakh to each farmer, ₹15,075 crore towards Rythu Bandhu (payment of ₹10,000 per acre to each of around 64 lakh farmers every year) and ₹1,589 crore towards Rythu Bima (paying ₹5 lakh each to the families of farmers who die in distress).
The tax-free budget proposes a total revenue expenditure of ₹211,685 crore and capital expenditure of ₹37,525 crore. This is around ₹34,000 crore more than the previous budget of ₹2.56 lakh crore for the current financial year that ends on March 31.
While the finance department was allocated ₹49,749 crore towards salaries, pensions and other expenditure at its disposal, the highest allocation of ₹31,426 crore was made for the panchayati raj and rural development department.
For Dalit Bandhu, the flagship welfare programme of the state government for the upliftment of marginalised sections, the finance minister announced an amount of ₹12,980 crore to ensure benefits for 1,100 beneficiaries in each of the 118 assembly constituencies in the state.
Another major scheme of the state government, constructing houses for the poor, Rao announced an outlay of ₹7,890 crore, under which 2,000 eligible persons from each of 119 constituencies would get the houses. Another 25,000 houses will be allotted at the discretion of the chief minister.
An amount of ₹3,360 crore was allocated for rural infrastructure under Palle Pragati scheme and ₹1,474 crore for Pattana Pragathi (urban infrastructure) scheme towards the matching grant of the state government along with the grants released by the finance commission, Rao said.
The state government accorded highest priority to infrastructure development and public welfare in the latest budget, Rao said. A total of ₹2,500 crore were allotted to building and maintaining roads, and an additional ₹2,000 crore for maintenance of rural roads. Around ₹1,000 crore have been set aside towards new recruitments in various government departments.
The other major allocations made by the state government include power subsidy ( ₹12,000 crore), rice subsidy ( ₹3,000 crore), incentives for industrial promotion ( ₹2,937 crore), Aasara pensions ( ₹12,000 crore), special development fund for welfare and development activities in the constituencies ( ₹10,348 crore) and construction of new roads ( ₹2,074 crore).
The finance minister criticised the central government for discriminating against Telangana and creating hurdles in the progress of the state. While the state proposed to raise ₹53,970 crore through borrowings to complete five pending irrigation projects, the Centre imposed a cut of ₹15,033 crore, he said.
He also accused the Centre of breaking the tradition of implementing the finance commission’s recommendations by denying Telangana of its due share in its grants to the tune of ₹5,374 crore. It also set aside the recommendation of NITI Aayog for a grant of ₹19,205 crore for Mission Bhagiratha and ₹5,000 crore for Mission Kakatiya schemes of Telangana.
“While the promises made under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act have remained unfulfilled, another ₹1,350 crore towards backward districts development fund have not been released by the Centre,” he said.
Despite the Centre’s attitude, Telangana will forge ahead and play an important role in nation building in the years to come, the finance minister said.
