Hyderabad: The Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) has not received adequate funds from either Andhra Pradesh or Telangana for the last three years and is currently suffering.
The Board was set up to deal with dispute resolutions between both the states but the lack of funds is making it difficult for even day-to-day operations to run smoothly. Currently, the board is also facing a shortage of engineers and other personnel owing to the money crunch.
The Central government gave the KRMB one crore in grant to aid its functioning. Despite the issuing of a gazette notification from the Centre which asks both the state governments to pay Rs 200 crore for the Board’s functioning, money has not made its way.
The Times of India quoting KRMB officials stating that it was agreed that both the state governments would share the expenses for the functioning of the board for the year 2018-2019. However, as KRMB member secretary DM Raipure noted, “The Telangana government released Rs 3.5 crore against its share of Rs 8.3 crores in 2020-2021, the Andhra Pradesh government has not deposited any amount for the last two years.”
He further added that the Board had approved Rs 18 crore as budget for the year 2021-22 and the creation of a reserve fund of Rs 10 crore. However, with the amount not coming through the Board currently has only Rs 2.4 crore for its functioning and the post of four secretaries and one senior account officer still lies vacant.
The member secretary also added that the board needs experienced people to be appointed on a consultancy or outsourcing basis. The lack of worthwhile salaries deters retired people from applying for KRMB’s jobs and it is necessary for the chairman to be given the power to hire people at higher remuneration rates.
With the state government not releasing the allotted 200 crores, the board is planning to discuss the issue in the 14th Board meeting on August 27.