TDP govt neglected agriculture, irrigation: Cong member

Hyderabad, Feb 26 (UNI) Congress member G Chinna Reddy today alleged that the former TDP government had neglected agriculture, irrigation and power sectors, leading to farmer suicides and serious power shortage.

In a debate on the Budget in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, Mr Reddy said the TDP government had not taken up even a single power project during its nine-year tenure.

While the TDP government had every year drawn from the RBI Ways and Means loans and overdrafts, the Congress had not resorted to the practice in the three years of its present tenure. He alleged that though the TDP government had borrowed Rs 42,000 crore from the World Bank, half was utilised for covering budgetary deficit.

Claiming that the state had achieved all-round development after the Congress came to power, he said the Rajasekhara Reddy government was planning to bring an additional one crore acre under irrigation.

Also, the state had achieved a per capita income of Rs 26,211, which was more than the national per capita income, he added.

Mr Reddy said the state was poised to overtake Bangalore in IT exports. While Bangalore exported IT products worth Rs 36,000 crore, the state had exported IT products worth Rs 25,000 crore. He also said a 1000-dollar investment was coming into the state.

UNI