By Oracle
KCR’s manifesto has his deeper understanding of the people’s problems. The issues he has touched upon in the partial manifesto announced on Tuesday endorse the above statement as an unassailable truth.
He personally visited and understood the needs of the people of Telangana by being a legislator in a ruling party, being in the opposition and again in the ruling party, of which some time as a minister, for 16 years. Then he donned the mantle of a crusader for 13 long years, espousing the cause of Telangana that was deprived of many a facility it was due. He travelled across the region many a time and interacted with lakhs of people during his journey of taking his demand for a separate Telangana to a logical conclusion.
Thus, manifesto by TRS is not a bunch of sops like other political parties who make it in AC rooms. It indeed is a manifestation of popular pulse. The big picture has major problems addressed in it. KCR is fully aware that the budgets and earnings of the States are not sufficient to meet the demands of every individual in the State, but steps can be taken to address major issues which need urgent attention of the Government.
Manifestos become the basis for the annual budgetary provisions. Now this is where KCR makes all the difference. His manifestos have a solid backing of facts.
Loan waiver
For instance, KCR is pretty clear that the loan waiver announced and enforced effectively to farmers in the last four years has served the purpose. However, the Chief Minister has a clear understanding that an extension of a similar waiver will get the farmers rid of their loan burden and continue the cultivation seamlessly. The Rs. 1-lakh loan waiver will benefit a large number of farmers and there is a scientific and economic basis for the Chief Minister to assert that he wouldn’t be a copycat of the Congress party’s vow of
Rs. 2-lakh loan waiver
One must take his observations that the economic growth of the farmers should be such that there must be a day when the farmer could come forth to offer his contribution to the society, after meeting his needs and savings. Farmer as a growth engine is the vision of the Chief Minister. When he said he wants to irrigate one crore acres by June 21, 2020, he has his data at his fingertips.
The enhancement of cash component Rythu Bandhu scheme is surely an improvisation on the ongoing program that has bolstered the confidence of the government with the response it has received from the farmers. After a diligent examination of the scheme and its implementation and the criticism by the opposition, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief has taken a conscious decision to enhance the assistance to Rs 5,000 per season per acre.
Unemployment allowance, a shocker to the opposition
The most attractive and promising announcement in the partial manifesto was unemployment allowance of Rs. 3,016. The basis for identifying who is eligible and who is not and how long the assistance would be given and how would the government get compliance of any one who could secure an employment and how the allowance could be withdrawn to such persons would all be worked out by an expert panel. KCR said that about 42 lakh were likely to be benefitted from the scheme. However, the actual numbers would be ascertained by working out the modalities of the scheme.
Though the Congress talked about unemployment allowance, nobody took it seriously. The intelligentsia which conveniently ignored the promise of the Congress suddenly became attentive and began nitpicking on the scheme, once KCR announced it. Maybe, they were cocksure that the Congress would not be elected to power. Also, the Congress party’s poll promises are never taken seriously.
However, when it comes to KCR, he ensures that the promises are implemented. This triggered the hullabaloo. In fact, the promise of “unemployment allowance” has come as a bouncer to the critics, for nobody was expecting KCR to do such a massive homework and come up with an announcement on this scheme.
The Chief Minister bought time saying that the Panchayat Raj elections would come soon after the Assembly polls and they would be followed by General Elections to the Lok Sabha. Therefore, about two to four months of time would be needed for the next government to bring in these schemes, he said. It essentially needs courage to say the implementation will take time. Since he is super confident of implementing the scheme, he has not hesitated to say that it takes time.
KCR’s promises are not doling out largesse without doing the need analysis and capacity assessment (of the government). The Congress is promising everything under the sun only to expose its shallowness.
Employee-friendly government
The Chief Minister has promised to bring down the age of eligibility for Asara pensions from 65 to 57. A big move that instills confidence among the people about their own lives. The proposed hike of Rs. 1,000 is a big relief for the beneficiaries. The multiple options created in the double bedroom housing, food processing units in every two districts and the confidence boosted among the government employees over the impending pay revision have passed through a perfect exercise behind the scenes. He has reminded the government employees that TRS government has proved to be an “employee-friendly” government and that they can trust him that he would do justice to them.
The Government has implemented several schemes like Kalyana Lakshmi, Shadi Mubarak and KCR kits without promising them, as it found their need during the process of governance.
The announcement of partial manifesto came like a blockbuster hit, sending jitters in the ‘maha kutami’, which is clueless about many things that found a place in the proposed manifesto of the TRS Party.