Central budget disappointing, says Chandrababu Naidu

Telugu Desam Party Chief and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu on Friday dubbed the Union Budget as "disappointing" and said that it was not in accordance with the wishes of the people of Andhra Pradesh.

"The budget is not in accordance with the wishes of the people of Andhra Pradesh. The centre made budgetary allocations to the northeastern States but ignored Andhra Pradesh, which is reeling under severe financial crisis. The budget has badly disappointed the people of the state," said Naidu.

The special category status and other issues in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act were also ignored, he said.

"Nothing is mentioned about the revenue deficit, to be covered by the centre. Of the total revenue deficit of Rs 16,000 crores, only Rs 4,000 crores were granted," he observed.

The TDP leader also said that the central government had allocated only Rs 13 crore for tribal university and central university.

"Not even a single paisa is allocated for educational institutes like IIT, NIT, IIM, IIIT," said Naidu.

Even though work on the capital city, Amaravati and Polavaram project came to a grinding halt four months ago, the Centre had not made any allocations for the same, he said.

"Same is the case with Vizag and Vijayawada Metro projects, Kadapa steel plant and Dugarajapatnam port," said the TDP Chief.

Naidu, however, lauded the central government for proposing the Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) method.

"Giving priority to ZBNF is welcome. During the past five years, we have given utmost priority to ZBNF in our state. We appreciate the encouragement to ZBNF," he said.

The TDP Chief expressed concern over decreased allocation for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

"It must be remembered that infrastructure development like farm ponds, anganwadi buildings and panchayat buildings are developed in villages with MGNREGA funds only," he added.