Telangana too will get benefits on par with AP

HYDERABAD: TRS deputy floor leader in the Lok Sabha and Karimnagar MP B Vinod Kumar on Wednesday said all the benefits provided by the Centre to the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh have to be provided to Telangana state too.

Speaking to reporters at Telangana Bhavan here, Vinod Kumar stated that for the last few days an impression is being created that all the incentives and special packages provided by the Centre would go to only Andhra Pradesh and that Telangana would not get anything.

According to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, Section 94, clause (1), the central government shall take appropriate fiscal measures, including offer of tax incentives, to the successor states, to promote industrialisation and economic growth in both the states.

'Despite such provisions included in the Act, some people are trying to create an impression that all the Central benefits will only go to Andhra Pradesh and not to Telangana,' he alleged.

He said the special category status and tax incentives are two different things. Special status is given to backward states, whereas tax incentives can be given by the Centre to any state, he said.

He said that even former Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia had recently clarified on the issue and had said that special category status and tax incentives are two different things. As many as 11 states fall under the special category.

With Andhra Pradesh having been accorded the privilege, the number of states enjoying the status had gone up to 12. He said that Modi government would honour the promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act and do justice to both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

'We expect Modi to treat both the states equally and help them in developing it,' he remarked. Vinod Kumar said his party MPs would raise the concerns of the people of Telangana in Parliament and see that the state gets all the benefits from Centre.

'We do not want confrontation with the Centre and will work with it in coordination so that the state can get maximum benefit,' he remarked. On Polavaram issue, he said they would take up the issue with the Centre and see that justice is done to the affected people.

He said that Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik and Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh were also opposing the design of the Polavarm project as it will be affecting people in their states as well.

'We are not against the project, but want the Centre to change the design of the project so that minimum damage is done to people. As people of three states are opposing the project design, the Centre should reconsider its decision,' he said.