Hyderabad, March 27 : Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao claimed that the Telangana State was financially stable and growing at a rapid pace.
Replying to the debate on Appropriation Bill 2017 in Legislative Assembly on Monday, the Chief Minister said that the Telangana State would register an increase in revenues by Rs. 15-20,000 Crore in the next financial year. As the Chief Minister, he said, he could say that the State was economically stable and vibrant.
Reacting to Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy’s accusation that the State Government was inflating the budget figures, the Chief Minister admitted that the figures were boosted to move forward with optimism.
The Chief Minister said KG to PG free education was his dream project. Stating that residential schools were being established for various communities across the State, he said the target could not be achieved in just 2-3 years. He said a majority of students were studying in private or corporate schools. Therefore, immediate implementation of scheme would result in thousands of teachers and staff of private schools loses their jobs. To avoid such a scenario, the government is implementing the scheme in a phased manner. He said that the government has decided to fill nearly 24,000 vacancies of teachers by recruiting 8,000 teachers every year.
The Chief Minister also hinted at convening Assembly session in the next one week to pass a resolution on 12% quota for Muslims and Scheduled Tribes. He said when Tamil Nadu and other States could be allowed to give reservations up to 69%, then why Telangana could be denied that opportunity. He said that the State Government would make effective representation with the Centre and also in the Supreme Court contending that the States should be empowered to decide on the percentage of reservation.
He clarified that the reservation was not being given to Muslims on the basis of religion, but on the basis of their socio-economic backwardness. He said that the government would convene the Assembly session immediately after receipt of report from Backward Classes Commission.
KCR said that the State Government would send teams to different States for studying the welfare schemes of farmers. He said a team would be sent to Karnataka to study the payment of bonus in addition to Minimum Support Prices on various crops.
The Chief Minister said that the State Government would complete Charminar Pedestrianisation and also Musi Beautification projects as planned. He also assured to take steps to prevent spread of drug mafia in Hyderabad. He said a few foreigners were involved in drug rackets and they would be dealt at the diplomatic level.
He announced that in addition to 3.7 lakh beedi workers who are getting monthly pensions, another 81,000 beedi workers would be given a monthly pension of Rs. 1,000 each from next month onwards.
KCR said that the Telangana Government, during the last two-and-a-half years, had spent Rs. 12,136 crore to strengthen the energy sector which is much more than what previous Congress Government had spent during its 10 year rule. He condemned the Congress leaders for criticising the policies of TRS Government. He also accused them of causing obstructions in execution of irrigation projects in the State.
Earlier, Finance Minister Eatala Rajender intervened on several occasions to give clarifications to the issues raised by Uttam Kumar Reddy (Congress), Dr. K. Lakshman (BJP), Akbaruddin Owaisi (MIM) and others.
Later, Speaker S. Madhusudan Chary passed the Appropriation Bill with a voice vote. He then announced the adjournment of House sine die.