Telangana Government Diverting Central Funds?

Telangana Government had written to the Centre requesting the release of Rs 450 crore under the Backward Areas Development Fund, as promised in the AP Reorganisation Act but the center has clarified that the next installment will be released only after the state submits utilization certificates for funds released in the past.

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Over the past two years, the Centre has released 900 crores under these funds. But the Center suspects that those funds are diverted to some other schemes and were not used as intended. The state had submitted some certificates but they were rejected saying that they lacked sufficient details.

In the last fiscal, Telangana had received the funds without submitting any certificates but even though the AP government submitted utilization certificates, the release of funds was delayed. AP Reorganization Act mandates the Center to give 50 Crore each to all the backward districts in two states.