Hyderabad: Congress’ Rajya Sabha member T. Subbarami Reddy on Wednesday urged the Centre to grant ‘special status’ to Andhra Pradesh and provide financial assistance for building new capital for the state.
Mr Reddy raised the issue as special mention in the Rajya Sabha and urged the Bharatiya Janata party-led NDA government to make all-out efforts to fulfill the commitments made by previous UPA regime for Andhra Pradesh while bifurcating the state.
He demanded special development package for the backward regions of Andhra Pradesh, especially the four districts of Rayalaseema and three districts of coastal Andhra on the lines of special plan in Odisha, in Madhaya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
Mr Reddy also sought special financial assistance to bridge the deficit budget of Rs15,691 crore.
He also urged the Union government to declare Polavaram irrigation project as a national project and to provide sufficient funds to complete the project at the earliest.
Dr Reddy demanded a statement from the Union government giving an assurance on the floor of the House that sufficient funds in the budget will be provided in the current financial year itself to fulfill the commitments given by UPA government for Andhra Pradesh.
Dr Reddy pointed out that the Modi government had not made any efforts to fulfill these commitments and not made any provisions in the Budget this year.
