Roads and Buildings Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy accused the Centre of discrimination in providing flood assistance to the State. Reddy claimed that whenever the Central team visits the State to assess the damage caused by floods, they do not provide any financial aid.
During a discussion in the Assembly about the consequences of excessive rainfall in the State and the government’s measures, Reddy mentioned that a Union minister from the State suggested utilizing the Rs 800 crore SDRF funds. However, there are strict conditions for withdrawing money from these funds, with each beneficiary only being allowed to receive Rs 1,800-Rs 3,800. In contrast, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao provided Rs 10,000 to flood-affected people in Hyderabad, despite no support from the Centre.
Reddy also highlighted that in September 2016, when floods hit the State, they requested Rs 3,851 crore as assistance from the Centre but received no financial aid. He criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing funds to Gujarat in advance but not allocating anything to their State.
Furthermore, Reddy accused both the BJP and the Congress of being more focused on “mud politics” than the welfare of people. He praised the efforts of Revenue and police officials during the flood relief work, mentioning that there was a record rainfall of 46 cm within six hours, leading to the evacuation of 27,000 people to 157 rehabilitation centers and resulting in 44 deaths.
