Parliamentary Level Committee Questions Telangana Government On Its Expenditure

Hyderabad: The Parliamentary Level Committee on Urban Development has asked the state government why Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photo and the statue is not being put up on the double bedroom houses under construction. Prime Minister Modi has made it clear that he wants his photo put up on the double-bedroom houses being built. It is being built with state government share funds while also with the central government providing Rs 1.5 lakhs under the Prime Minister's Awas Yojana (PMAY) for this purpose. Why are the Greater Warangal and Karimnagar smart city projects not on track? Why did the state government divert the funds released by the Center to these projects? Why the late release? When will the state government release its share of funds? These questions were raised by the committee.

A parliamentary delegation led by Lok Sabha MP Jagadambika Paul on Tuesday held a review meeting with top officials of the two states on the implementation of central urban development schemes and programs in Telangana and AP states at a hotel in the city. Other members, including BJP state president Bandi Sanjay, a member of the rank-and-file committee, questioned Telangana officials as to why the state government's share of funds was not released when the Warangal and Karimnagar smart city projects were to receive a total of over Rs 1,500 crore. He also questioned why the funds given by the Center were not spent.

“Has the Smart City Advisory Committee been set up? Have these committee meetings been held for three months? Why not start works on a public-private partnership?” asked the officers. The state government was blamed for not replying to letters from the central government on the issue. According to Arvind Kumar, Chief Secretary, State Municipal Corporation, Rs 392 crore has already been released by the state government, equivalent to the Centre's grant so far for smart city projects. Members questioned why more than 80,000 houses, which have already been completed under the GHMC, were not allotted to the beneficiaries, officials said, adding that these needed to be infrastructuralized.