TDP MPs to meet Union Ministers on Oct 12

Amaravati: Like adding insult to the injury, the Central government did not release funds to the State government under backward district grants, while they gave Rs 450 crore to Telangana.

As the TDP MPs are getting ready to put pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi government to fulfill all promises made under AP Reorganisation Act, this incident is causing more pain to the State government and TDP.

The TDP MPs will meet various Union Ministers on October 12 and give detailed demands of the State government for immediate implementation. Rajya Sabha member C M Ramesh from Kadapa said that they will ask the Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh to sanction steel plant in Kadapa district.

He said that as BJP leaders could rule the country for the next six months only in this tenure, they must fulfill their promises within this short period of time. He further added that there was no compromise on establishing Kadapa Steel Plant, which was mentioned in AP Reorganisation Act-2014.

Another TDP Rajya Sabha member Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar said that the Central government has to provide complete financial assistance to the State government for constructing the capital city under Section-94 of the Act, but they released just Rs 1,500 crore so far.

They were misleading public by blaming that the State government did not submit utilisation certificates (UCs) for these funds. It was not correct. AP government submitted UCs for Rs 1,632 crore. Detailed Project Report submitted with an estimated cost of more than Rs 39,937 crore for construction of Amaravati, and the Central government has to provide these funds, he added.

Reacting on construction of Polavaram, the State government submitted revised estimates for Rs 57,940 crore for land acquisition, rehabilitation, resettlement apart from construction of the project. But, the Central government shelved it, he said.

Under Section-46 (2) of the Act, the Central government should provide Rs 16,078 crore as revenue deficit gap funding, but Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was arguing that they would not consider the Act.

Central government was saying that they would provide only Rs 4,117 crore as per Standardised Expenditure. In contrast to that, CAG estimated that the Central government has to release more than Rs 12,099 crore under the head to the State government, he pointed out.

The TDP MPs also said that the Central government was silent on establishing crude oil refinery and Petro Chemical Complex in the State, despite the State government’s initiatives like providing Rs 577 crore subsidy and basic infrastructure facilities at the unit The State government also expressed willingness to provide Rs 51 crore as subsidy on water, the TDP leaders explained.

People from North Coastal Andhra have been waiting for announcement of setting up of Railway Zone at Visakhapatnam and the Central government was mandated to complete procedure for establishing it within six months after passing Reorganisation Act under Section-93 in Schedule 13. But, there was no progress in it, TDP MPs said.

They pointed out that the State government has also been demanding that the Central government establish Vizag–Chennai Industrial corridor with hundred per cent Central grants, as mentioned in the Act. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu blamed that instead of constructing this corridor, Narendra Modi government released Rs 1200 crore to construct Dholera Investment Region in his own State, Gujarat.

Further, the State government released a white paper on establishment of Central institutions recently and explained that no commendable progress. The MPs will also demand the Union Ministers to complete them. In addition to that, issues like Dugarajapatnam Major Port, national and international airports construction and others will be moved, explained the leaders.