The new schemes announced by Telangana’s ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) for the upcoming elections will put an additional burden of Rs 35,000 crore on the government while Congress’ promised “six guarantees” will cost much higher, rough estimates have suggested.
With the much-touted Rythu Bandhu scheme, which promises to increase the financial assistance to farmers from Rs 10,000 per acre per year to Rs 16,000 per acre per year, the government has already disbursed Rs 14,657 crore among 117 lakh Pattadars for 292 acre in 2020-21, according to the Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS).
For ‘Vanakalam’ (Kharif) season, Rs 7,289 crore were disbursed for 146 lakh acre and Rs 7,368 crore for 147 lakh acre in ‘Yasangi’ (Rabi) season.
If the assistance is increased to Rs 8,000 per acre per season (Rs 16,000 annually), the total expenditure incurred by the state government annually will come to Rs 23,440 crore. Thus, the government has to spend an additional Rs 8,783 crore.
Aasara Pension
According to the government data, there are 3,935,345 beneficiaries (barring physically challenged persons) of Aasara pension in the state. At the rate of Rs 2,016 per month, the government spends Rs 24,192 yearly on each pensioner. In total, the government spends almost Rs 9,520 crore towards the scheme.
Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao announced that the monthly pension will be increased to Rs 5,016 per month in a phased manner. When that happens, the yearly expenditure will be almost Rs 24,000 crore. Therefore, the government has to pay an additional Rs 14,480 crore.
The number of disabled persons in the state is 5,14,422 and they receive Rs 4,016 per month under the Aasara scheme. The government spends Rs 2,479 crore towards them. If it increases to Rs 6,016 monthly as per the manifesto, the government will have to shell out almost Rs 3,713 crore annually, incurring an additional burden of Rs 1,234 crore.
KCR Bima
The CM said the government will pay an annual premium of Rs 4,000 to 93 lakh families below poverty line (BPL) under the KCR Bima scheme. Therefore, it will incur an expenditure of Rs 3,720 crore.
Apart from these, the CM also announced Rs 3,000 per month and gas cylinders at Rs 400 for eligible poor women in the state. He also promised to supply fine rice to all BPL households (amount still not specified). At present, the government supplies 6 kg normal rice per family member per month to ration card holders. The burden of this subsidy was estimated to be Rs 2,800 crore last year.
Thus, the schemes will roughly cost Rs 35,000 crore additional to the state government.
According to the Centre, Telangana’s outstanding public debts will touch Rs 3.57 lakh crore in 2023-24, which is 11% more than the previous year. Opposition leaders have often alleged that the state government has resorted to indiscriminate borrowings and sale of government land to pay salaries of employees. However, BRS MLC K Kavitha told media on Monday their manifesto is “practical and doable” as the benefits will be allotted in a phased manner.
Congress’ Guarantees
Kavitha’s statement offsets the manner in which the six guarantees of the Congress were announced. The party’s promises come without the rider of eligibility criteria, giving rise to the speculation that the schemes will cost much more than the BRS’.
For example, Congress announced Rs 2,500 per month financial help for nearly 174 lakh women in Telangana. If they all receive Rs 2,500 per month, the expenditure incurred by the government will be almost Rs 52,000 crore.
Under YSR Rythu Bharosa, the Congress has promised Rs 15,000 per acre per year to all landholding and tenant farmers. The latter is not recognised by the BRS government. Thus, the number of farmer beneficiaries will be higher for the Congress. Similarly, the grand old party declared gas cylinders for all women at Rs 500, and free travel for women in state transport buses. For years, TSRTC has been reeling under losses. It remains to be seen how much more burdened it will be with the free bus travel scheme.