White paper a ploy to back out on guarantees: Harish Rao

Hyderabad: Calling the white paper on the State’s finances tabled by the government in the Assembly a blatant attempt to project the State, which had a healthy and robust growth history, as a debt-ridden and bankrupt entity, BRS MLA and former finance minister T Harish Rao on Wednesday feared that the situation could be used to set the stage for evasion of the six guarantees given by the Congress to the people in the State.

Initiating the debate on the white paper, Harish Rao sounded a caution to the State government against its bid to portray Telangana as a poor State for the sake of political gains, stating that this would impact the interests of the State. Urging the government to pay focused attention to the need to enhance further the reputation and leverage of the State, he made it clear that the repercussions of showcasing the State in an adverse manner would be serious.

He said the financial status of any State was not measured in terms of the money stacked in cupboards. The inflow and outflow of rupee from the treasury was a continuous process. The newly formed State had come of age overcoming all the teething troubles faced in the initial years. Telangana had emerged as a formidable economic power after enduring crises like demonetisation, economic recession and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Besides this, the State had mobilized its own resources and provided wonderful progress and welfare to the people withstanding discrimination by the Centre. At a time when the economy was in a bad state due to the pandemic, the State income also remained standstill. Even when the expenses were full, the BRS government had provided assistance to the farmers for the monsoon harvest before the season.

As many as 11 installments of Rythu Bandhu assistance was given to farmers on time.

The State had pinned hopes on the newly formed government. As the Congress party gave many hopes, the people believed in them and brought them to power. The ruling party should strive to live up to the expectations of the people and win the trust of the people. They should strive to achieve development.

The facts and figures given in the white paper were not newly mined from the archives, he said, adding that they were often mentioned in the Legislative Assembly. The numbers given in papers were already available in public domain. The motive behind the attempt to throw mud at the previous government by repeating what everyone knows is clear. Instead of reflecting the true picture of progress achieved by the State, targeting political opponents by indulging in distortion of the facts was uncalled for, he said.

Many of the institutions had acknowledged the strong and healthy standing of the State in terms of its economic growth. When the BRS came to power in 2014, it did not venture to accuse the predecessors of emptying the coffers. The BRS government had worked with the sole intention of making Telangana a leading State. He expressed the hope that the new government too would be working towards progress by setting aside political considerations.