Forum for Good Governance (FGG) has urged the government to present a development-oriented and inclusive budget for the next financial year and not one full of freebies.
The FGG expressed concern over the steady decline in budgetary allocation for the education and health sectors, and wanted at least 10% of the total outlay allocated to each of them. The FGG regretted that government schools, especially in rural areas, were in a dilapidated condition, but no steps had been taken to improve their infrastructure.
Though the government launched the Mana Oru, Mana Badi program with a total budget outlay of Rs 7,300 crore to be spent over three years, not a single rupee has been spent in 2021-22 and not a single school has been repaired Went. The situation in the health sector was no different with government hospitals such as Osmania General Hospital and Gandhi Hospital lacking necessary infrastructure.
FGG secretary M. Padmanabha Reddy, in a letter to Finance Minister T. Harish Rao, recalled how the state had been accusing the central government of not releasing funds. “But what the government is doing with gram panchayats and urban local bodies is equally bad,” he said.
As a result, the sarpanches were forced to work to borrow money at high interest. Due to non-payment of bills and increasing pressure from moneylenders, some sarpanchs ended their lives. “Irrespective of party lines, sarpanches are currently on the streets,” he said, urging the government to allocate at least 25% of tax revenue to gram panchayats and urban local bodies.
Mr. Padmanabha Reddy wanted the government to review and reduce allocations for schemes like Rythu Bandhu and Dalit Bandhu, besides giving a break to the irrigation sector. Moreover, the budgetary allocation to the Department of Information and Public Relations should be drastically cut to prevent wastage of public money.
He expressed concern that several freebies like Bathukamma sarees, Kalyana Lakshmi and Shaadi Mubarak programs and organizing grand parties on religious festivals are being given importance without much effect. “The government should limit the expenditure on welfare schemes to 25% of the budget and take steps to provide free healthcare and education,” he added.