YCP Govt Busy In ‘Stickering’ Centre Schemes

After having cleared air over removal of Special Category Status from the agenda of the sub-committee constituted to resolve contentious issues between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao alleged that the YCP government was more interested in owning up and stickering Centre-sponsored schemes than in the development of the state.

He said that he has an opinion that he alone had put in more efforts in securing funds from the Centre for Andhra Pradesh than the 22 YCP MPs put together. The YCP MPs are fit for nothing, he said and asked if only giving letters to the Union ministers was what they could do. He claimed that though the BJP has just a couple of elected representatives from AP, they were being pro-active and pushing things to ensure that pending projects and funds were sanctioned to the state by the Centre.

He criticized the YCP government for claiming that it was their party MPs who were exercising on many issues relating to Andhra Pradesh. “It is your responsibility and you have to do it.”

Dynasty politics

In Vizag, a modern refinery is being expanded at a cost of Rs 22,000 crore and what is the the role of YCP MPs in it, he asked, adding that since 1956, not a single project of such magnitude was taken up in the state. Dynasty politics did no good to Andhra Pradesh, he said.

He reminded that during Chandrababu Naidu’s rule, there was talk of setting up petrochemical complex in Kakinanda. HPCL and GAIL also expressed readiness to cooperate but the state government refused to part with its share of funds, he said.

YCP keen on publicity

The YCP government is more keen on getting publicity for its schemes than really implementing them. In the last seven years, the Centre laid down highways spending Rs 35,000 crore in the state. What is the role of the state government in this project, he asked. At the same time, he took exception to the YCP government for failing to acknowledge Centre’s support in developing the highways. “The YCP government fears the BJP would gain ground if the party leaders praise us.

He criticized the state government for failing to repair the internal roads and even stopping drinking water supply to 200 villages as it could not pay salaries to the staff there.

Extra funds granted

The Centre sanctioned Rs 3,200 crore towards Jal Jivan this year but the state government could not secure at least a rupee from the funds. The Centre did not sanction Jal Jivan funds to AP because it had not repaid the loans taken for water schemes last year, he pointed out.

Similarly, the state government failed to release one-fourth of the Rs 2,100 crore necessary for six railway lines in the state even the Centre expressed readiness to take up the works, he said.

The MP said that the BJP government had created a special window for long-term projects with Rs 1 lakh crore in the Budget with which infrastructure projects could be taken up. AP is likely to get Rs 4,000-Rs 5,000 crore of this and it can be spent on the railway lines, he said.

Usually, the Centre grants Rs 24,500 crore to Andhra Pradesh for various schemes but last year, AP was given Rs 77,000 crore. Of this, only one-third is earned through taxes while the remaining is grants sanctioned to the state by the Centre, he averred.

GVL had said that special category status was removed from the agenda of the special sub-committee on bifurcation, as it was relevant only to Andhra Pradesh just like resource gap. The committee was constituted to resolve financial disputes between AP and TS, he added.