States taking cue from Telangana: KCR

Karimnagar: Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Sunday said that Telangana, in a short period of four years, had emerged a lodestone for the rest of the country owing to its progressive development policies, sincerity of purpose in executing and completing projects and not just for launching, but successfully implementing hitherto unthought of welfare schemes for those who need them the most.

He said Telangana, in these past four years, had emerged as the number one State. “Our grain production has gone up to 54 lakh tonnes in 2017-18 from the 24 lakh tonnes in 2014-15, thanks to our implementation of 24-hour free power supply to farmers and improved irrigation. We no longer buy grains but sell to Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. Such things have become possible only because we worked hard and with dedication,” he said.

He also said that Telangana was on top in terms of GSDP, number of residential schools, use of electricity, and mother and child welfare, thanks to KCR Kits. “We are also number one in providing funds to the agriculture sector, providing Rs 20 lakh scholarships for students studying abroad and we are number two in ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in the country,” he said.

“Despite such progress, BJP and Congress have been trying to mislead the country. Is there any State that is ruled by Congress and BJP where farmers get 24-hour power supply? What have they done after winning? I want Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to answer this question,” he said.

Chandrashekhar Rao said no one in the country could conceive of a programme such as Rythu Bhima that provides Rs 5 lakh life insurance cover to farmers. “The beneficiary families do not have to run around offices. In the unfortunate circumstance of a farmer losing his or her life, the money is deposited into the beneficiary’s bank account within 10 days. Our Rythu Bandhu scheme has been copied by the Centre and many other States. Twelve States have come to us to learn from our Mission Bhagiratha Scheme,” he said.

He explained that such programme implementation was possible in Telangana only because the government cracked down on corruption and worked sincerely. Chandrashekhar Rao also called out BJP president Amit Shah for spreading “lies about Telangana.” “Every time he comes to Telangana, he says the Centre gave us a lot of funds. The fact is whatever we got is our Constitutional right.”

The Chief Minister said Telangana happens to be one of the few States that supports the nation. “One



year ago, our tax contribution to the Centre was Rs 50,000 crore and we got back Rs 24,000 crore as our share of Central devolution. So who is giving to whom? Amit Shah never responded to this question,” Chandrashekhar Rao said.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Sunday said that in the next few months, the State will see Godavari river in its full glory, as Telangana literally turned history on its head by taking up and almost completing major irrigation projects, particularly the Kaleshwaram project, which was nearing completion.

During his address here where he launched the TRS’ Lok Sabha election campaign, Chandrashekhar Rao said: “See how work on Kaleshwaram is progressing. It used to take decades, 30 to 40 years sometimes even to get projects off the ground. Now, works on Kaleshwaram is in its last stage. All these things happened in just four-and-half years. Once it is switched on, it will ensure four live streams of water flow. You will witness this here in this district.”

One of them will be the 180 km stretch of Manair river beginning at Upper Manair via Mid Manair and Lower Manair Dam up to Manthani where the flows will meet the Godavari. There will be full of water for 365 days. To use the water more effectively, all that is needed is 30 to 40 check dams in addition to the three or four in place now, he said.

The second big change will be witnessed in the SRSP Flood Flow Canal, he said. “This never really saw water. But we are going to use it as a 124 km long reservoir – from SRSP dam till Mulavagu near Vemulavada – that will hold up to 1.5 TMC of water throughout the year. Similarly, Kakatiya Canal will be the third that will be full of water and will serve Warangal and Nalgonda districts,” he added.

Chandrashekhar Rao said: “With barrages and dams such as the ones at Sundilla, Annaram and Medigadda, the 250 km long Godavari river stretch will be like the sea, never without water from now on.” “To make these four things possible, it did not take us decades, It just took us four years. In the olden days, there were so many times when I stopped by the river and dropped coins into it praying that the Godavari should always flow full. Now it is becoming a reality,” he said.

Chandrashekhar Rao said even the previous governments had leaders and Ministers. “But work did not happen because they were not willing to do it,” he said, stating that the TRS government worked hard and with a commitment to achieve the set goals.