Vijayawada: As the Legislative Council passed the interim budget amid sharp criticism from the Opposition parties on Thursday, finance minister Buggana Rajendranath explained how the YSRC government simultaneously took care of the poor and carried out the state’s developmental works. While replying to the debate on the interim budget, the finance minister focused attention more on what the government did in the past about five years. “We accorded top priority to education, health, employment and social security pensions,” he claimed and stressed that the state government implemented the YSRC manifesto in its true letter and spirit. Referring to the recent review reports of the Union Government of India and the RBI, the finance minister said the Jagan-led government took up a resurvey of the land to rectify the lapses in the land records, for the benefit of the people. No other state did this since 1912, he claimed. Drawing a comparison between the debts raised by the Centre, the previous TD dispensation and the present YSRC government, he said that in 2014-19, the Centre raised debt to the tune of 60 per cent of the GDP. By 2019-24, the central debt rose to 86 per cent. It raised the debt to 126 per cent in 2014-19. The YSRC government raised debts during 2019-2014 to the tune of 95 per cent of the GSDP. He asked, “Which government raised more debts?” MLC K.S. Lakshmana Rao said that though the YSRC’ commitment for welfare was appreciable, it failed to get the Centre to implement the provisions of AP Bifurcation Act in a proper manner. It must pay more attention to getting the Visakha railway zone to boost AP’s image, the Kadapa steel factory too. He expressed concern over the delay in execution of the Polavaram irrigation project. The minister stated that since the YSRC government was maintaining cordial relations with the Centre, it managed to get revised estimates for the Polavaram project. He blamed the previous TD government for its alleged resort to corrupt practices, resulting in a prolonged delay to the execution of the prestigious irrigation project. The Opposition parties alleged that the interim budget failed to reflect the realities and it indulged in a jugglery of numbers. Later, the interim budget was passed by the council. Chairman Koyy Moshenu Raju announced that the council adjourned sine die. Through the present session, the council sat for four days, worked four nine hours and 35 minutes, passed nine bills and took 17 special mentions.
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