Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar on Thursday deplored meagre Central assistance to Telangana — the youngest state in the country — which he said had been achieving phenomenal economic and social development under the leadership of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

The Chief Secretary also announced that the age limit for sanction of “Aasara” old age pension in the state would be reduced to 57 years. Till now, people above the age of 60 years have been extended the benefit which he said was increased from Rs 200 in 2014 to the present Rs 2,016.

“As many as 46 lakh new beneficiaries will be added to the scheme,” he said.

Speaking at the Abhay Tripathi memorial lecture at Dr MCRHRD institute here, the Chief Secretary sought the guidance of the keynote speaker and former deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia in overcoming the recession that the country has been facing.

Ahluwalia had played a crucial role in the Congress-led UPA government and was hailed as one of the architects of economic reforms in the country.

Listing out various achievements of Telangana, which according to him took birth after 60 years of struggle, Somesh Kumar said the Gross State Domestic Produce grew by 130 per cent, the per capita income rose by 125 per cent and per capita power consumption was 73 per cent higher than the national average. The gross crop area grew by 63 per cent because of the world’s largest lift irrigation project undertaken by the state government.

“The state’s own revenue went up three times and stood at Rs 1.31 lakh crore. But, we are seeing how the devolution of Central funds and grants that the state is getting affected. The central assistance was not even doubled from Rs 15,307 crore and it was only Rs 27,800 crore,” he pointed out.