Hyderabad: In order to limit the long-term economic impact of the lockdown, the KCR government has decided to put on hold the release of funds amounting to Rs 480 crore earmarked for the development of legislative constituencies in the state.
The state government had previously decided to release the funds which would allow MLAs and MLCs to spend towards the development of their respective constituencies.
As the coronavirus death toll rose to 23, with 872 positive cases, the KCR government withdrew its previous decision of releasing Rs 480 crore under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) for all 160 legislative constituencies in the state.
According to informed sources, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to stall the release of these funds, despite its allocation.
The move comes just days after the state government received criticism from the Opposition for cutting the salaries and pensions of employees and pensioners. The Constituency Development Funds scheme is the brainchild of KCR and it allots Rs 3 crore to all the constituencies for development activities.
Earlier, the chief minister had allotted Rs 3 crore each to 160 legislators, including 140 MLAs and 40 MLCs.
The implementation of the CDF scheme has been put on hold for the second year in a row.
TRS legislative party had met recently and taken a decision to hold off the funds. Reacting to the development, the Congress and the BJP extended their support to the state government in its fight against the deadly coronavirus outbreak, which they described as an 'unseen enemy'.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday announced that the ongoing lockdown in the state has been extended to May 7 and said that it will be implemented in a tougher manner.
Operation of food delivery services like Zomato and Swiggy have also been banned in the state until further notice, the chief minister said.
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