Hyderabad: Telangana minister for Urban Development KT Rama Rao (KTR) took a dig at Union minister G Kishan Reddy over the Centre’s ‘false’ flood relief funds.
Speaking of Reddy’s statement KTR said, “Kishan Reddy is blatantly lying, providing false statistics.”
The minister further attacked Reddy for not standing with the people of Telangana in such difficult times, despite being an MP from the state.
KTR went on to question the Centre’s attitude towards Telangana and asked, “Is it not the central government’s responsibility to come to the rescue of the states where there were floods?”
“When asked about how much the Central Govt. allocated to Telangana under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), Kishan Reddy is confusing people by the numbers of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) which is the rightful share of Telangana under Article 280,” said KTR.
KTR further asked union minister Kishan Reddy to read the statement given by union minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai in Parliament where he clearly said that there was not a single penny given to Telangana after 2018.
“Is it not true that the Prime Minister himself conducted a survey on floods in Gujarat and released Rs 1000 crore NDRF special additional assistance in the form of advance in 2021?” KTR asked. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is blind to the problems faced by the people of Telangana. We will keep questioning his discriminatory attitude,” KTR remarked.
KTR stated that the SDRF fund is a constitutional right of every state. “SDRF is one of the ways the states get back the taxes paid by them to the central Govt. Kishan Reddy should learn about this fact,” said KTR.
KTR further remarked that the PM Modi-led Centre is sending huge funds to the flood-affected BJP-ruled states, whereas, they are just sending inspection teams to the non-BJP ruled states affected by floods.
“From 2018, till the present, Bihar was allocated Rs. 3250 Crores, Madhya Pradesh – Rs. 4530 Cr, Karnataka – Rs. 6490 Cr, Gujarat – Rs. 1000 Cr under NDRF funds. Are these stats not correct? KTR questioned Kishan Reddy.
“When they can allocate Rs. 15,270 Cr to four BJP-ruled states, why can’t they provide special funds to Telangana in a similar way?” asked KTR
KTR then challenged Kishan Reddy to bring funds to Telangana state in a similar way. He also demanded that Kishan Reddy should apologize to the people of Telangana for spreading lies about the NDRF funds.
“If Kishan Reddy has any love for Telangana State, he should ensure bringing special funds to Telangana under NDRF. If not Kishan Reddy should accept that the BJP government has given nothing to Telangana since 2018,” he said.
KTR stated that the Center has not responded to the multiple requests of Telangana government which repeatedly appealed for allocation of special funds during the floods in Hyderabad.
He said that the state government has assessed the damage caused by the floods in the state and asked the Centre to allocate Rs. 1400 Crores. He said that the centre is trying to wash its hands by just sending inspection teams from Delhi. “This will do no good to the state,” he added.
Minister KTR stated that Kishan Reddy does not have the courage to bring additional funds to Telangana from the high-level committee chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. “Hence he is lying to the people of Telangana,” he remarked.
KTR also stated that Kishan Reddy was making such false statements only to strengthen his position in his party and be a part of the ‘Golmal Batch’ led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“If Kishan Reddy as a Union Minister representing Telangana fails to do justice to the people of Telangana, he will remain a loser in history,” Minister KTR said.
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