New Telangana Chief Minister and Congress leader A Revanth Reddy has his job cut out. He has to implement Six Promises his party had promised to the voters.
But implementing all that is easier said than done. Telangana's overall debt through budgetary borrowings at the end of March 2022, stood at Rs 3,14, 852.9 crore. And hence the Congress Chief Minister of India's 'new' state will require good management skills vis-a-vis budgetary support. Estimates suggest his government will need an additional Rs 70,000 crore to implement the Six promises.
In the run up to the polls, between Congress and BJP, there was common feature -- both the national parties did not forget to attack the erstwhile BRS regime headed by K Chandrashekhar Rao.
BJP's chief poll strategist and country's Home Minister Amit Shah during campaign said Telangana was a revenue surplus state but the BRS dispensation left it with debts. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also echoed the same thing when he had said, "Telangana has a debt of over Rs 5.7 lakh crore, which means there is a loan of Rs 1.40 lakh on every person in the state," Kharge had at a public meeting in the Kalwakurthy assembly constituency.
Politically of course both these parties are bitter foes. But when it comes to Governance and so-called 'Team India' as Prime Minister Narendr Modi often refers to; it may be natural to expect healthy cooperation and coordination between the state government of Telangana and the centre.
The real issue is -- how can Chief Minister Revanth Reddy workout a good working relation with the Modi government vis-a-vis economic management of the state -- and that too just a few months or rather weeks before the parliamentary elections. It's a pretty tall order for both sides.
There are, moreover, sector-specific challenges too. The Revanth Reddy government has to handle acute financial crisis in the power sector. Here it's how.
The new state government has to implement free electricity supply up to 200 units to domestic consumers under the ambitious the Gruha Jyothy scheme.
“If all the domestic consumers are not charged up to 200 units of power per month, the total burden on the state would be anywhere around Rs 4,800 crore,” M Venugopala Rao, an expert in the electricity sector, has been quoted as saying in a section of media. Moreover, here is an instance of 'mess' left behind by the KCR-KTR regime.
A financial burden to the tune of around Rs 81,000 crore, including dues from the state government in the form of subsidy and dues to be paid to the power generating units. This spells a crisis like situation.
Of course the dues from the central government itself is around Rs 72o crore.
In addition, Telangana state northern power distribution company ltd (TSNPDCL) and Telangana state southern power distribution company (TSSPDCL) owe Rs 28,140 crore.
Needless to add some of these amounts are legacy matters from the time of united Andhra Pradesh in 2014 when the new state was carved out.
In 2014, the dues from the state government to these two power utilities was around Rs 1,268 crore.
But gradually these went up year after year due to various lift irrigation schemes, the biggest being Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project (KLIP) and Mission Bhagiratha (supplying drinking water to every household).
There is more to the agony tale. Municipal corporations, Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board have also allegedly not paid power bills regularly to the Discoms. Left to them, for their part the Discoms can overcome the losses by increasing the power tariff for high-end consumers in the industrial and commercial sector to cross-subsidise the domestic and agriculture power consumers.
But all these are anti-populist measures and will make life hell in an election year.
Now flashback, but only in November 2023, Revanth Reddy had charged KCR and his family with being “financial terrorists” for the state.
Going through the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) report, the Congress leader had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Medigadda to study the irrigation project.
Reddy had said the then ruling party were ‘terrorising entire system’.
Speaking to media. Reddy said in view of the report from Dam authorities; it was the responsibility of the Centrer to initiate action against KCR and the officials involved in the project.
“When the Prime Minister visits Telangana to seek votes for the party, he should first examine Medigadda barrage and initiate action against KCR and the officials involved in the project. Since Modi does not tolerate corruption, it is high time that he initiates action against KCR," Revanth had urged. Interesting times ahead !!
ends
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