The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : LSP terms TDP’s TV offer as irresponsible

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Friday, Mar 06, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

LSP terms TDP’s TV offer as irresponsible

HYDERABAD: Lok Satta president Jayaprakash Narayan has described as “irresponsible and unconstitutional” the Telugu Desam’s promise to distribute colour TV sets and said its cash transfer scheme to the poor and middle classes as an “invitation to disaster”.

In a statement here on Thursday, he said it was possible to argue that some subsidies like those on food, fertilizer and petroleum products, however, irrational or unsustainable, were legitimate tools to alleviate poverty. But colour TV distribution was nothing but a cheap gimmick and did not form part of a legislator’s mandate. He appealed to the media, intellectuals and the public in general to nip the ‘totally reprehensible” proposal in the bud.

Cash transfer scheme

He said the cash transfer scheme could cost Rs.25,000 crore assuming that a majority of 1.25 crore beneficiary families would lay claim to a cash transfer of Rs.2,000. In this context, he pointed to how the number of white cardholders swelled to over two crore grossly exceeding the total number of families in the State.

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Andhra Pradesh