‘Rich state- crores per acre- number one in it- ideal governance’, these are the kind of things TRS leaders are preaching all over the country when talking about Telangana state. However, the political pundits on the other hand say that it would be great if everything is done as is told in public. The state that was in surplus during the formation period is now debt-ridden. Now even to meet the basic needs of the people of the state, the government is ending up taking more debts ultimately turning the state into a pile of debt. Amid all this, with the recent tough stance of the Center on states’ debts, a big headache has started for KCR. Telangana, which had hoped that the loan from the Reserve Bank would come next week, was met with resistance. On the 17th of this month, the government decided to borrow Rs 2,000 crore in the process of auctioning state development loans. He hoped for a positive response after a recent video conference with the Union Finance Secretary. But all the hopes went in vain.
The Reserve Bank has opted to lend Rs 8,500 crore to three states alone. There is no name of Telangana in it. Telangana, which has already defaulted on Rs 3,000 crore in two tranches in April and Rs 3,000 crore on April 2, is hoping to get at least Rs 2,000 crore on May 17. But with these recent updates from the center and the Reserve Bank, the Telangana government faced difficulties. However, the state government is now hoping to at least get a loan in the process on the 31st.
It is estimated that Rs 7,600 crore will be required for the farmer bond in the second week of June. However, analysts say that raising such a large amount of money is difficult in the current situation. There is already a huge delay in the Raithu Bandhu assistance. Checks were distributed in May while the scheme was introduced in 2018. It has been getting late ever since. It is said that it is difficult to give the money in May too. The recent information states that are being arranged to be given within the next month. The state announced providing Raithu Bandhu to the farmers in installments as it is having a rough time with the financials.
Meanwhile, the situation with paying salaries has also become difficult. Even during the times of being a joint Telugu state, the salaries were paid on the 1st day of every month for sure. But under KCR’s reign, there is no scene of employees getting their salaries paid on time. The Center has taken seriously the fact that the state government is a guarantor to the corporations as it is difficult to borrow under the FRBM rules. This made it difficult to take on new debts. A high percentage of income is already lost in paying the interests of the already taken loans. The government has introduced a huge budget of Rs 2.56 lakh crore this year. But looking at the current situation, the financial stature of the state is already going downhill just to pay salaries alone. Analysts warn that this could intensify in the coming days.
Opposition groups are collectively calling for a boycott of the state government. They are heavily criticizing the government, citing Sri Lanka as an example. RS Praveen Kumar, however, took a step forward and suggested that it would be better if KCR, like Rajapaksa, resigned. However, even under these circumstances, the Opposition is incensed that in every program that is held in public, minister KTR and other leaders were labeling Telangana as an extraordinary state. They are heavily condemning the TRS boasting about Telangana’s accomplishment while on the other hand seeing the debts pile up like anything.