Nirmala Sitharaman says, Every scheme in which Centre has share should be named after Centre

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that a scheme should be named after the Centre if it has a central share in it.

The remarks of the Minister came after Telangana Minister Harish Rao claimed that the centre hardly provides 50 to 55 pc of the funds, and the remaining 45 pc is borne by the state only.

"She is saying as if the central government is the only one giving free rice to the state. The centre hardly provides 50 to 55 pc of the funds, and the remaining 45 pc is borne by the state only and for that Telangana government spends Rs 3,610 crore. Telangana is among the five/six states which take care of our country financially. We have spent extra Rs 1,70,000 crore for the country," the Telangana Minister had said.

Responding to the claims, Sitharaman said, "Every scheme in which the Center has a share should be named after the Centre. As soon as the state gives the share, we are releasing the central shares. It would have been better if Minister Harish had clearly heard what I said in the press conference."

"The collector did not answer my questions. I know how to answer sarcastically. The Center has nothing to do with delaying the work due to the debt. Why had the Telangana government not joined Ayushman Bharat till 2021?" she added.

Sitharaman said that a large chunk of Telangana's revenue comes from Hyderabad.

"The projects are pending as the centre has given funds but the state has not. Ministers of state should know the facts and speak. If the centre gives 60 per cent of the funds, the states have to bear 40 per cent. 55 per cent of Telangana's revenue comes from Hyderabad," she said.

The Minister said that the Centre has continued to give funds to the states as per the formula set by the Finance Commission.

"There is a Parliament Pravas Yojana to know the problems of the people. Every scheme has a central share. Funds collected in the name of cesses also go to the states. The funds should be spent for whatever reason the cess was collected. We continue to give funds to the states as per the formula given by the Finance Commission. It is clear that there is no way to give less to this state and more to one state," she said.

(ANI)

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