By: N. Rahul
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday exuded confidence that the black days of Telangana due to power cuts were over as the State was headed for a `golden era’ with abundant power.
In his presidential address to the plenary of Telangana Rashtra Samiti at Lal Bahadur stadium here on Friday, Mr. Rao appealed to industrialists within and outside the country to invest in the new State as its power position reflected the way the Government was poised to function. He assured them of uninterrupted power supply in the State as the Government had tied up resources to the extent of Rs.91,500 crore to build up power capacity of 24,000 MW.
The installed capacity now was only 4,320 MW. In this context, the Chief Minister announced that the 6,600 MW ultra mega power project to come up at Damaracherla in Nalgonda District will be named after Laxminarasimha Swamy, the presiding deity of the hilltop shrine at Yadagirigutta in the same district.
He also announced that the ambitious industrial policy of the Government titled `Telangana State Industrial Project Approval and Self Certification System’ will be launched next month.
Tapped water all households
The hour long speech of Mr. Rao immediately after he was declared re-elected TRS president saw him reeling out several success stories of the ten-month Government. He asked the delegates to take the prestigious water grid programme as a challenge because the Government had committed not to seek votes in the next general elections if tapped water was not supplied to every household in the State.
Sounding a note of caution to the party workers and inviting a chorus from them that they will fulfill the commitment of the Government, he said that the pipelines would cross 20,000 sites cutting across railway lines, streams, canals, rivers and roads. They must ensure smooth conduct of works at all these places, he added.
Another challenge facing the Government is the completion of ongoing irrigation projects and false campaign against the Pranahita-Chevella project. Dispelling doubts that the project site was shifted from the backward Adilabad District, he said that it will continue at Tummidi-Hatti in the district to irrigate 70,000 acres but another barrage would also come up at Kaleswaram in Karimnagar District to exploit the confluence of Pranahita and Godavari and augment the yield in mid-Manair project.
Hyderabad Metro Rail to Airport
Mr. Rao promised extension of Hyderabad Metro Rail project up to Shamshabad airport, Ramachandrapuram in Medak district and Ibrahimpatan in Ranga Reddy district. The infrastructure of Hyderabad which was dismantled by the previous governments will be restored, he asserted.
After patting himself on the back for successes of the Government in distribution of social security pensions, supply of fine rice to hostels and hiking wages for Anganwadi workers, Mr. Rao reflected the concerns of people that compulsory and free education from kinder garten to post-graduation was a non-starter and that youth did not get jobs.
Loan ceiling doubled
He said the KG to PG scheme would be launched next year while the Government will fulfill its commitment of creating one lakh jobs after the division of staff between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana was completed. He also announced increase in the ceiling of loans borrowed by self-help groups from Rs. 5 lakh to Rs.10 lakh.
As a parting announcement amidst a thunderous applause from delegates, he said that the Government will reward them with nominated posts in two or three months. He announced that he was rededicating to the cause of the party and left for lunch with the crowd at Nizam College Grounds across the road.
Source: The Hindu