KCR not using Centre's funds to TS, says Kishan

 HYDERABAD: Claiming that the Centre had provided thousands of crores to Telangana under various schemes in the last eight years, Union minister G. Kishan Reddy on Monday said that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao was just interested in power without showing any concern for the state's development.

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, and answering questions about his series of letters to the Chief Minister, Kishan Reddy stated that Telangana was falling behind because Rao was unwilling to implement Central schemes and was not utilising funds sanctioned to the state.

"Our aim is to inform the people of Telangana about the programmes undertaken by the Centre and to have them implemented for the benefit of the people. He (Rao) has no interest in developing Telangana or implementing the Central schemes and programmes. His sole focus is on regaining power in Telangana,” Kishan Reddy said and recalled that the CM did not attend a programme in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stones for a slew of projects.

The Chief Minister, Kishan Reddy said, had time for political meetings in Maharashtra but not for the Sri Rama Navami celebrations in Bhadrachalam. "He has time to take part in Ramzan celebrations where he will dress up to impress people. The people of Telangana will not forgive him,” Kishan Reddy said.

Meanwhile, in yet another letter to the Chief Minister, Kishan Reddy said the state government needed to step up utilisation of funds given by the Centre under the Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) programme; '610 crore released in the past three years were lying unused with the state government.

He said the BRS government did not spend the amount as per its own annual plan of operations (APO) for afforestation as approved by the Centre under CAMPA funded programmes.

In addition, the Centre released about Rs 30 crore for Centrally sponsored schemes for forest, wildlife conservation, and maintenance of parks and zoos. “Even these funds were not used and the state government did not release its share of Rs 2.2 crore towards Project Tiger for the Kawal and Amrabad reserves,” he said.