Harish Rao asks if BJP, Cong gave 2-bedroom houses in their States

MEDAK:Telangana Minister of Finance and Health Harish Rao on Wednesday slammed the BJP and the Congress for their anti-government policies and for ignoring the needs of the people.

Addressing the media after taking part in a programme organised to distribute two-bedroom houses to the beneficiaries, the Finance Minister slammed the Congress and the BJP. He claimed that the Congress had little concern for the people and frequently indulged in corruption in implementation of various welfare programmes. The TRS government provides financial assistance of Rs 3 lakh to people who own land, he added. Have any of the BJP and Congress-ruled states had a two-bedroom housing scheme for the poor, he questioned.

Giving an account of the state's welfare programmes, he said that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao enhanced the pension for the elderly from Rs 200 to Rs 2,000. In addition to the existing 1.6 lakh beneficiaries in the Medak district, an additional 21,000 beneficiaries now receive monthly pensions, he said. He also recalled the opening of a new MCH hospital in Medak.

Harish Rao criticised the Narendra Modi government at the Centre for trying to portray welfare programmes as freebies and urged people to boycott the party which, he alleged, would revoke the welfare programmes. He also rebuked the BJP government's decision to waive off Rs 10 lakh cr debts of corporate groups. The minister was also critical of the BJP for fomenting hatred between religions and emphasised on equality of all sections in the society. He said that the goal of the Telangana administration headed by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was to help the underprivileged irrespective of caste and creed.

Harish Rao also lambasted the Centre for giving Telangana a raw deal in the release of state's share of Krishna river water. The Centre also did not accord permission for starting Navodaya educational institutions and medical colleges in the state, he claimed. Harish Rao cautioned people not to fall in the trap of BJP which, he said, was making false promises to woo voters.