Progress impressive under TD rule: Minister

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, MARCH 31. The Finance Minister, Mr. Y. Ramakrishnudu, has asserted that the progress achieved by the State in areas such as food production, reducing poverty and birth rate is quite impressive under the Telugu Desam rule compared to Congress rule.

The percentage of people below the poverty line was 22.19 in AP compared to 33 in Karnataka and 35 in West Bengal. The highest food production in the State since 1990 had been 149 lakh tonnes in 1998-99, the second 140 lakh tonnes was in 1997-98, the third highest was 136 lakh tonnes in 1999-2000, all during TDP rule, while the Congress rule of 1989- 94 was marked by low food production.

The Finance Minister quoted from the latest census figures to show that the State had halved the birth rate - from about 22 per thousand to 13.

Mr. Ramakrishnudu gave a purely political speech, asserting how the TDP Government under Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu's leadership was fulfilling the promises made in the party's 1999 manifesto. Congress leaders Mr. K. Suresh Reddy and Dr. M. V. Mysura Reddy objected to the speech, asserting that the Finance Minister should confine himself to the debate on Appropriation Bill instead of converting the Assembly into a ``public meeting.''

The Minister asserted that he was entitled to explain how administrative actions were in tune with the political philosophy of the ruling party, the promises they made in election manifesto, the Vision 2020 document and the budget speech.

Mr. Suresh Reddy (Congress) made a scathing attack on the Government's performance, saying that the TDP had completely mismanaged Government finances, with the State having to borrow heavily to finance its Plan schemes.

The Government had no money to fund development projects. There was not a single industry with an investment of Rs. 200 crores that came up in the State since the TDP came to power, despite Mr. Chandrababu Naidu's frequent tours abroad, Mr. Suresh Reddy asserted. Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy and Mr. T. Jeevan Reddy asked whether the Government disowned the 1994 election manifesto which brought N. T. Rama Rao to power, which promised total prohibition and power to farmers at Rs. 50 per HP per year.

Mr. Ramakrishnudu rebutted these points with a series of facts and figures quoting from documents as the opposition members sat amused, frequently interrupting the Minister.

He asserted that while NTR gave Telugu people a sense of self- respect, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu put AP on the world map, with a number of world leaders wanting to visit Hyderabad to see the use of Information Technology in effective governance and poverty eradication.

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