-Union minister of tourism and culture G. Kishan Reddy
Union minister of tourism and culture G. Kishan Reddy has alleged that the family of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar is lying blatantly on Smart Cities funds released by Centre to Telangana.
He claimed that of more than Rs 1,000 crore allocated for Smart Cities Mission in Telangana, the Centre has released Rs 392 crore.
Kishan Reddy stated that 50 per cent matching state share of the Government of Telangana has still not been released for the Smart Cities of Warangal and Karimnagar.
Till date, the Government of Telangana has released only Rs 210 crore of the Rs 392 crore of its matching state share.
While the Centre has been making Smart City fund releases in Telangana since the financial year of 2015-2016, the Government of Telangana released its matching state share for the first time 6 years late in the previous budget of 2021-2022 after pressure from the Centre.
Even money released by Government of India towards the Smart Cities Mission has been transferred to the smart cities of Karimnagar and Warangal by the Government of Telangana only after a severe lag.
Reddy, who is a Member of Parliament from Secunderabad, said that timely release of matching state share contribution of Government of Telangana would have ensured Warangal and Karimnagar to have better drainage and sewerage facilities and would have coped with the recent floods better.
He pointed out that the Government has allocated Rs 2,780 crore under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0. As many as 66 projects worth Rs 1,660 crore were a part of the approved plan for the first phase of ARMUT covering 12 cities in Telangana.
Reddy said in the Telangana Government, the important and critical ministries of Finance, Health, Medical and Family Welfare, Irrigation, Land and Revenue, Commercial Taxes, Mining, Municipal Administration and Urban development, Information Technology, and Electronics and Communication are handled by members of one family.
“Never before have so much ministerial and administrative powers been vested on so few for so long in spite of such poor performance,” he said.
He alleged that the State Government’s Ministry of Finance and Municipal Administration and Urban Development Ministries seem to be giving conflicting information on Smart Cities. He said KCR family was deliberately propagating misinformation and lies through social media.
“The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) falsely claims that the Government of India did not release even 1 rupee in the last 3 years for Smart Cities in Telangana. However, when one ascertains the facts, it becomes clear that this blame should squarely lie on the State Government of Telangana which did not allocate its share as a part of the matching grant for the Smart Cities projects in Telangana,” he added.
