Hyderabad: Expressing his disappointment in public, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday criticised the 14th Finance Commission for denying the state a level-playing field.
The commission had on Tuesday allotted Rs 1.69 lakh crore as grants to Andhra Pradesh over the next five years, in addition to Rs 22,113 crore to fill the state’s revenue deficit.
Chief Minister said, during a media conference in Kuppam in Chittoor district, that the grants to AP was a gross injustice. “The Commission has accepted that fiscal damage was done to AP but it has done nothing to strengthen our financial base,” he said.
“The grants for rural and urban local bodies, Rs 8,654 crore and Rs 3,635 crore respectively, are insufficient. The Rs 2,429 crore grant for NDRF and SDRF is also insufficient as AP is in the seismic zone and is vulnerable to several disasters,” he said.
“AP is an agrarian state that does not have adequate space for revenue elasticity. It lacks a capital city and the ecosystem for development and is devoid of major growth engines. How can we pull along?” he asked.
“Division was done in an unscientific manner. We have been facing a severe resource crunch and are passing through a crisis period. Knowing fully well of our state, the commission has not come to our rescue,” Mr Naidu said.
