The government has proposed to present a Vote on Account Budget on February 5.
Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Assembly’s Budget sessions began on Wednesday with Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan addressing a joint session. In his speech, the Governor said that despite non-cooperation from the Centre, Andhra Pradesh has been on a path of growth. The Budget sessions will continue till February 8. The government has proposed to present a Vote on Account Budget on February 5.
The Governor said that for a new state like Andhra Pradesh, struggling with low Per Capita Income and without a Capital city like Hyderabad or Chennai or Bengaluru that drives the economy of the state, key issues such as huge revenue deficit, skewed asset distribution, lack of R&D institutions and adoption of inconsistent criteria have aggravated the crisis.
“In fact, allocation of assets on location basis, distributing debt liabilities on population basis, apportioning 46 per cent of the estimated combined state revenues to the new state of Andhra Pradesh with 58.32 per cent of population, adopting power consumption as the criteria in the power sector etc. have further compounded the misery,” he said.
Mr Narasimhan further added that countless requests made by the state to the Union government for financial and infrastructural handholding to bring our infant state to a level playing field with its neighbouring states have literally fell on deaf ears.
To top it all, the Union government’s decision not to heed to the legitimate demand of according Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh, citing incorrect and incoherent reasons, is a major setback for the state in its development pursuit, he said.
He also said that the state’s growth performance, averaging at 10.66 per cent, compared to All-India growth rate of 7.3 per cent, the highest in the country during this period, only points to the spectacular performance cutting across sectors, despite non-cooperation and lack of support from the Centre.
Agriculture and allied sectors have recorded a 11 per cent growth rate, which is the highest in the country, compared to national average growth rate of 2.4 per cent.
