This can only be the subject of a comedy movie. Not so long ago, KCR was bragging left and right that Telangana is the only revenue surplus state in the country after Gujarat, thanks to the jackpot of Hyderabad.
This is a fact vouched for by the 14th Finance Commission. But now, hardly a month later, the TRS government is claiming a severe financial crisis.
The reason is said to be the Rs 1,274 crore deduction by the income tax department through the Reserve Bank of India.
The amount was deducted from the Telangana state account towards payment of the income tax liability of the AP Beverages Corporation Limited.
With the sudden depletion of funds, the first task of the government was to ensure timely payment of salaries and pensions for June, which it managed to do comfortably.
In all, government paid about Rs 1,500 crore under this head. Yet another huge bill that the government had to pay was Rs 4,250 crore towards this year's installment for last year's farm loan waiver. However, with its kitty hit by the IT department withdrawal, the government made a part payment of about Rs 2,200 crore. The balance is expected to be paid next month.
With its coffers nearly empty after the payment of a portion of the farm loan dues to the banks, the government has now issued instructions to all departments that bills related to travel and dearness allowance as well as dues to contractors and other government expenditure deemed not pressing, should not be paid until further orders.
These expenses come to about Rs 2,000 crore each month. Whatever be the reasons, KCR has proved himself to be a leader with no administrative foresight, not saving for a rainy day.
Besides, how can deduction of a thousand crore put the government in a financial crisis when AP seems to be managing with a revenue deficit of Rs 17000 crore?
Also, KCR’s populist stupidity in giving hikes to agitators more than asked for will now come back to haunt him. And there are payments to be made to the Godavari Pushkarams.
After bifurcation, Telangana was one of two states with a surplus budget in the whole country. Within a year, it is now on the brink of a financial crisis. Only KCR can do this!
