The sports community of Telangana and also the BRS leadership is expressing deep discontent over the Centre’s stance of discriminating against Telangana in the allocation of Khelo India funds. They are objecting that it is not right to look down on Telangana, which is producing national and international athletes.
They say that there are already better sports facilities in a metropolis like Hyderabad in Telangana, and if the Centre encourages it, there is a possibility of more talented athletes coming to the fore. Khelo India Games, a scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in 2017 to bring talented athletes to the fore in the country.
It is the right platform for our players to win medals in prestigious tournaments like the Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and World Championships. While allocating crores of rupees to the states under BJP’s rule, it is allegedly showing its stepmotherly love for the states under opposition party governments.
Along with Gujarat, it has given a big place to the northern states under its rule. It has given large amounts of funds to the respective states. But, it has shown adamantness towards Telangana. Uttar Pradesh, which has about 15 percent of the country’s population (24 crores), has granted the highest amount of Rs. 439 crore.
It has allocated Rs. 426 crore to Gujarat, which has not even a third of the population in that state. The BJP government, which has poured hundreds of crores into UP and Gujarat, has allocated only Rs. 17 crore to Telangana, which has a population of about 4 crore.
After UP, it has allocated Rs. 144 crore to Arunachal Pradesh, which is under its party rule, Rs. 107 crore to Rajasthan, and Rs. 69 crore to Delhi, which is almost four times more than our state, which has not even half the population. It has also allocated Rs. 55 crore to Kerala, which has less population than ours, three times more, and has shown its discrimination.
BRS Social Media Convener Y Sathish Reddy, using the X platform, highlighted the injustice being done to Telangana by allocating funds to Gujarat and sanctioned projects. He lamented that nothing has been given to Telangana, from sports to key projects. He criticized that while most of the athletes are from Telangana, there is discrimination in the allocation of funds.
