Despite levying heavy taxes on the people, the State continues to be in a debt trap, APCC president S. Sailajanath has said.
In a statement on Wednesday, Dr. Sailajanath said the people of the State were paying heavily for the “inefficiency of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.”
“The State is facing an unprecedented crisis. Though Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy had gone with a begging bowl, the Centre placed pre-conditions for the release of funds. Such is the position of the State today under the YSRCP rule,” Dr. Sailajanath said.
Accusing the Chief Minister of taking the people for a ride, the Congress leader said the new taxes had put a heavy burden on the common man, who was already at the receiving end of the pandemic impact. Tax on garbage collection would further worsen the situation, he added.
Instead of formulating coherent policies to generate revenue, the YSRCP government chose to levy taxes, he alleged.
New railway line
In a separate statement, APCC working president N. Thulasi Reddy said the State government owed an explanation on the non-completion of the Kadapa-Bengaluru railway line.
After visiting the project at Pendlimarri along with local party leaders, Mr. Thulasi Reddy said the foundation stone for one of the South Central Railway’s largest projects had been laid in 2013 with Andhra Pradesh and Karanataka agreeing to bear the project cost on 50:50 basis.
“The new railway line will reduce the distance considerably between Kadapa and Bengaluru. It has the potential to boost economy and generate employment in the region,” he said.
Pointing out that only 21.30 km of the total 268-km broad gauge project had been completed so far, he said ₹351 crore was invested on it till date against the total project cost of ₹3,038 crore. While 1,214 hectares of land was needed, the government had so far acquired only 163 hectares, he added.
Stating that the work had come to a standstill, he alleged that the YSRCP government had neither allocated funds nor acquired land for the project.
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