Hyderabad, November 11: The Revenue Minister, Mr Dharmana Prasada Rao, on Thursday said that the former chief minister and Telugu Desam party chief, Mr N Chandrababu Naidu, who did not spend a single rupee from the State exchequer for Relief and Rehabilitation during calamities during his nine-year tenure, had no moral right to talk about the relief works launched by the Rosaiah government in the cyclone-hit areas.
Speaking at Media Point in the Secretariat, Mr Prasada Rao said that the Congress government spent a total of Rs 2,079 crores for relief and rehabilitation measures during calamities since 2004. During the nine-year tenure of TDP government from 1995 to 2004, Rs 514 crores have been spent for relief and rehabilitation works during calamities. Besides, that amount was drawn from the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) and not a rupee was spent by the then State government, he added.
Refuting the allegation of Mr Naidu that the State government had failed to bring Central funds for the relief and rehabilitation works, the Minister said that a total of Rs 2,079.22 crores have been drawn from NCCF by influencing the Centre since 2004. The year-wise break-up of funds was Rs 227.88 crores for drought and Tsunami during 2004-05, Rs 100 crores for floods and cyclone in 2005-06, Rs 200 crores for drought, floods and cyclone in 2006-07, Rs 28.92 crores for floods in 2007-08, Rs 659.02 crores for drought in 2009-10, Rs 873.84 crores for floods in 2009-10 and Rs 81 crores for Laila cyclone in 2010-11 financial year.
Mr Prasada Rao advised the TDP Chief to introspect on the R and R works taken up during his tenure while criticizing the present government. Welcoming the visit of the Opposition leaders to rain-affected areas to console the victims, the Minister said that unfortunately Mr Naidu used his visit as a platform to level personal allegations against the Chief Minister, Mr K Rosaiah. The Leader of Opposition resorted to witch hunting out of frustration as there was no response from the people to his visit, he added.
Objecting to the TDP leaders, Mr Revanth Reddy and Mr Yanamala Ramakrishnudu dubbing Mr Rosaiah as a ‘political prostitute’, Mr Prasad Rao said that the people were laughing at the cheap language being used by the politicians in the recent times. Stating that cheap politics began in the State have after 1983, Mr Dharmana blamed Mr Chandrababu Naidu for dirty politics. He also alleged that the people were detesting the TDP leaders for their indecent utterances.
Claiming that the Congress government has taken special measures to improve the lot of farmers in the State, the minister enumerated the pro-farmer and pro-agriculture schemes and policies launched by late chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and the same were being continued by the Rosaiah government.
——–Agencies