Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu has tried to assuage the feelings of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu that the State got a raw deal in the Union budget by asking the latter to fix a meeting with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to address his grievance.
Mr. Venkaiah Naidu told a press conference here that he had a telephonic talk with the Chief Minister on Saturday evening when the suggestion was made to him.
The Union Minister said he asked Mr. Chandrababu Naidu not to air his grievance publicly after the latter had expressed disappointment that the State was neither granted special category status nor funds. On the other hand, the Chief Minister was told to share with Mr. Jaitley how much the State expected as assistance and what it actually got. They could thrash out differences after Mr. Jaitley returned from his foreign tour three days later.
At the same time, Mr. Naidu said he had also advised Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to take up his grouse that the State did not get enough to fund programmes under the Integrated Child Development Scheme funds.
The Union Minister admitted that the Rs. 100 crore allotted for Polavaram project in the budget was meagre and needed. “Yes, it is a matter of concern to me also.” But, the project could have got higher allocation if the detailed project report was prepared and submitted to the Centre.
The project was pending since its foundation stone laying ceremony when he was an MLA in 1978, Mr. Naidu said. “Who was to blame for it? Was it not the Congress governments in the intervening period?” he asked.
He said the BJP led NDA government inherited a precarious economic situation and it was trying to put the economy back on rails. The “kitty” did not permit the government to give liberal financial assistance to all States. The government was trying to distribute money with the spirit of federal structure.
