MyVoice: Views of our readers 2nd March 2025

AP Budget fails to meet expectations

AP Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav presented first Budget for the financial year 2025-26 with a total outlay of ₹ 3,22,359 crore, of which revenue expenditure is projected at ₹ 2,51,162 crore and capital expenditure at ₹ 40,635 crore. The estimated revenue deficit and fiscal deficit are constituting 1.82% and 4.38% respectively of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). It extended free power to the government-run schools, salons and weavers. Free power to schools will greatly reduce stress on teachers and students. Moreover, it gives great relief to local bodies which are struggling for funds. However, the Budget totally ignored Super - Six which was the main slogan for the alliance parties in run-up to 2024 elections. Though it earmarked funds for Tallikivandanam and Annadatasukhibhava, they are not sufficient. Further, the meagre allocations to the farmers await matching grant from the Centre. Similarly, farmers are reeling under price crash especially chilli and horticulture crops. The price stabilisation fund is decreased from ₹3000 crore to ₹300 crore in the Budget. Even the Deepam 2 got ₹ 2,600 crore as against requirement of ₹ 4,500 crore. Nearly 50 lakh unemployeees whose eyes were on unemployment dole were bitterly disappointed as there is no mention of it in the Budget. Surprisingly, ₹ 3.22 lakh crore Budget couldn't allocate ₹ 300 crore for free bus for women. Interestingly, there is no

Budget allocation for the pet scheme of Amaravati. So, it is crystal clear that the alliance government in the state wants to develop the capital purely on external loans. The Budget failed to mention expectations of government employees on IR, PRC and pending arrears.

–Pratapa Reddy Y, Tiruvuru, AP

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The AP State proposals for the 2025-26 Budget are an eyewash with deceptive figures with more focus on praising CBN and Lokesh while running down the previous government and Jagan Reddy for the alleged financial

harakiri during 2019-24. For the first time in the history of AP, budget was presented with

more focus on politics and less on fund allocation.

Already the government is 10 months old with a poor track record on the implementation of 143 electoral promises including the Super 6Gs.

The allocation of funds openly tells the people that the NDA government in AP is unable to fulfil its electoral promises in toto.

Almost all the social welfare schemes got lesser allocations while the actual requirement is more than double.

The old age pension scheme got much lesser allocations. There is no mention of Free bus for women and unemployment allowance.

–Govardhana Myneedu, Vijayawada

Southern states face delimitation worries

In an effort to address the concerns raised by the southern states, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah has given an "assurance" that no south Indian state will lose a Lok Sabha seat in the delimitation process, but the fine print needs careful scrutiny. Which population census would form the basis of delimitation? If there is a proportionate rise in the number of seats, as Shah has suggested, the southern states - which, unlike many of their northern counterparts, adhered to New Delhi's population control measures in the 1970s - stand to lose.

Since 1971, population growth in the southern states has been relatively lower compared to northern states, particularly Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. Thus, while delimitation might increase the total number of seats from each southern state, the rise will be smaller than that in the Hindi heartland. The opposition to delimitation must be seen from this sense of injustice being meted out, where states that did not follow the Centre's guidelines are being 'rewarded' with more representatives - and more representatives in Parliament translate to a greater voice in legislation.

This lack of trust underscores the importance of maintaining cordial Centre-State relations in a federal structure like ours. Such ties will help in the smooth passage of big-ticket reforms. Without doubt, it is incumbent on the Union government to go the extra mile to foster good ties with the states, especially those governed by Opposition parties something the Modi-led government has struggled to achieve since 2014.

–N Sadhasiva Reddy, Bengaluru

Unified pension an impractical move

The latest scheme of NDA government to merge all pension schemes – pension for unorganised sector, State old age pensions etc., – is impractical and ridiculous. EPS 1995 pension scheme is an existing, glaring example of such idiocy. It was a fraud perpetuated by UPA government in 1995 by which the government usurped crores of employers' share of PF and duped employees by mediocre pension, boasting it as if a big 3rd benefit.

Under this scheme, CPSUs/State PSUs were bundled with the private sector. How come two heterogeneous groups could be clubbed? Hats off to the officers/ politicians who carved out this most useless scheme. When workers retired after 1995, pensions were a paltry sum of Rs 200-500 pm. Is it an amount worth calling pension?

Public sector employees' wages/perks are decided by the Department of Public Enterprises under the Ministry of Industries, whereas private industrial employees’ wages etc., are fixed by respective companies and the government had nothing to do. How can pension be same to two opposite identities? Another stupid formulae of this EPS 1995 Pension is that the pension is same for a peon and GM.

After agitations from 2005, the minimum pension was hiked in 2013 by UPA government, but it was actually implemented from April 2014 by the NDA at Rs 1,000 pm. Since then, these pensioners filed cases in HCs besides agitating for a reasonable of minimum Rs 7,500 pm as per a verdict of SC that pension is not charity, but it is a deferred wage.

In 2023 after a series of meetings with leaders of pensioners NAC, the labour minister requested to stall agitation and assured reasonable /dignified hike. Even FM discussed with NAC, but she deliberately misled Parliament in Jan-Feb session that earlier FM did not inform about this EPS 1995 pension hike.

With such a bad record, can the NDA articulate Unified Pension for the entire Nation? Let NDA first honour their own promise of minimum Rs 5,000+ pension as per the 2014/2019/2024 election promises. A minimum of Rs 7,500 is the demand to commensurate with present cost of living index. Let NDA government note that thousands of retirees died without seeing pension hike.

– RSN Rao, Hyderabad

Crack down on spurious, unadulterated food items

Prime minister Narendra Modi, while offering some practicable tips to overcome the problem of obesity, advised people to reduce the in-take of oil by 10% to prevent obesity, especially in children and to stay fit (" Modi's tips for battling obesity", THI, February 24). It's indeed a good and effective solution that everyone should follow strictly to lead a healthy life, keeping away from a host of diseases that are caused by heavy in-take of oil. A large number of different kinds of oil of various brands are available in the market for the consumption of the public. But the question that stands before the citizens is how many of these kinds of oil are pure, unadulterated, safe and healthy for consumption.

What is most disturbing and shocking to health-conscious individuals is that the food we consume, the water we drink and the air we breathe are highly polluted and horribly adulterated and woefully contaminated that cause many life-threatening ailments and shorten the lifespan of people. Videos on social media show how milk is made artificially with harmful chemicals, how oil is extracted from the fat of carcasses of animals, how fruits and vegetables are artificially ripened and are made to appear fresh and shiny by injecting and spraying harmful chemicals on them and how all other consumed food-items such as pulses, meat, chicken and bottled -water adulterated and contaminated are most vulnerable. Contaminated food with pesticide residues pose another major threat to public health.

Unlike in the past, nowadays, more people are accustomed to eating outside their homes and ordering food online which is adulterated, contaminated and harmful, claiming their health. If at all, there are food-testing agencies in the states and the country, they seem be sunk in corruption and least concerned with their job and there is necessity to curb corruption in these agencies and make them work sincerely and efficiently. It's high time that the government started conducting checks seriously and the monitoring agencies like FSSAI (Food Safety and Standard Authority of India) thought seriously about health hazards the public are exposed to adulterated and contaminated food items.

–Dr Venugopala Rao Kaki, Kakinada

Caste, racial prejudices persist on campuses

It is disquieting that a Nepalese lady student was forced to commit suicide in Odisha due to intolerable harassment on the count of mindless Prejudice and racism emanating from what they look different from others, the native Indians. Let alone the foreign students being ill-treated, even the students of our country are illtreated on the count of sect, religion and what not. The Africans may be looking different from us by dint of skin colour or those from Nepal or Northeast may be having different looks or different eye or hair colour, but the co-students bully them in the name of ragging or otherwise and the insensitive administration adds fuel to the fire. At one point it looks absurd that the Institute demeans a particular group of foreign students of the campus hostel that they feed them free of cost and it is no small to ignite prejudice among the native students to bully them. I appreciate the Christian Institutions and Biblical Seminaries that they advocate equality among all students irrespective of their background.

We all know that a promising scholar like Vemula Rogit was forced to commit suicide on the campus of Hyderabad Central University and had he not been a Dalit he would not have been illtreated by the upper caste students, their outfit and the head of the institution. I recall the tone of ragging when I joined 50 years ago in a government medical college but still even though it is not officially allowed it continues in one form or the other or in a subtle way. I remember the best practice of foster students and foster parents in Christian Medical College, Vellore and the students felt quite at home and the foster parents were from Faculty as well and so caring and treating them as their wards. This system of foster parents from Faculty and administration got to be inculcated at all centres of learning to have individualised care and concern for the students, especially those from Africa, Nepal or the Northeast to be able to feel quite at home and to be shielded from Prejudice or racial discrimination.

–Dr T Ramadas, Visakhapatnam

Why blame game ontunnel collapse?

It is most unfortunate that a blame game is making rounds in the media on the rescue operations of SLBC tunnel collapse in Telangana, where eight workers are trapped for six days as rescue teams and experts of national and state disaster response forces, Army and Navy have been working hard to trace them. As there was no work in the tunnel for a long time, there might be some changes in the tunnel with loose soil and seeping of water. It is not clear whether the contractors and engineers inspected the tunnel before starting the work after a long gap. As the tunnel is the longest irrigation one, farmers of backward areas of Nalgonda district have great hopes of farming with Srisailam project waters to irrigate their lands. It is most regrettable that some opposition politicians are making adverse and negative comments repeatedly, demoralising the experts and the officials, without showing a humane approach.

–JP Reddy, Nalgonda