Govt. borrowings not translating into welfare benefits, says Buggana Rajendranath Reddy

The YSRCP has accused the NDA government of resorting to double standards on borrowings and financial discipline.

The TDP-led NDA dispensation was adopting the financing structures it had vehemently criticised while in the Opposition, senior YSRCP leader and former Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy said while addressing the media in Hyderabad on Sunday.

Mr. Rajendranath Reddy said the government’s borrowings were not translating into welfare benefits, while declining revenue receipts point to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s failure in wealth creation.

People and media houses who had questioned the YSRCP government’s financing mechanisms were now silent, he pointed out.

The TDP had objected to the previous government issuing Non-Convertible Debentures (NCD) backed by liquor sale revenues, which were used to fund welfare schemes. “The present government is borrowing through the same structure,” he said.

“The government should clarify whether its earlier allegations are meant to mislead the public or whether it is now consciously adopting a structure it once branded as fraudulent,” he said.

He further alleged that the future borrowings of the State Mineral Development Corporation had been pledged and access to the State exchequer extended to private entities, and called it unconstitutional.

Mr. Rajendranath Reddy said the government had raised over ₹2.66 lakh crore so far, yet key welfare schemes had either been stalled or failed to take off. Promised initiatives under the Super Six had not been implemented, including unemployment allowance and Aadabidda Nidhi, he alleged.

Despite increased liquor sales, he said the revenue growth was not reflected in State’s finances, indicating large-scale corruption.

He asserted that the YSRCP government delivered welfare schemes as per schedule even during the COVID-19 period, while the present dispensation relied on propaganda.