Telangana industries and information technology minister K T Rama Rao (KTR) said the entire nation was looking towards Telangana to replicate its model of “holistic, integrated and inclusive development” on Saturday.
Replying to the debate on the motion of thanks to the governor Tamilisai Soundararajan’s address in the state assembly, KTR said Telangana emerged as a role model for the entire country in the agriculture sector by implementing welfare schemes like Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima, round-the-clock power supply and uninterrupted water supply for irrigation.
“No other leader in independent India, including the Prime Ministers and chief ministers in the past, could ever think of developing the agriculture sector in such a manner. Only extraordinary leaders like KCR with extraordinary vision can take up such innovative schemes,” he said.
He further said the Telangana government had extended financial assistance of ₹65,000 crore to 6.5 million farmers under the Rythu Bandhu programme in the last four and a half years. The number of agricultural power connections had gone up from 1.9 million to 2.7 million in the eight years. The government was providing free power supply to all the connections round the clock, he added.
KTR alleged that the Narendra Modi government at the Centre was refusing to extend free power supply to the farmers in the country but waived off corporate loans worth ₹12 lakh crore. Instead of supporting the farmers, the BJP government was directing state governments to install meters for pump sets in agricultural fields and forcing state governments to give up power subsidies, he said.
“That is why KCR has taken up his national mission with the slogan of ‘Ab ki Baar Kisan Sarkar’,” he said.
The minister pointed out that Telangana’s installed capacity of power generation had gone up from 7778 MW in 2015 to 18000 MW at present, while all the other states were reeling under a power crisis. “What the country needs is not a double-engine governance, but a double-impact governance, which is possible only with a visionary like KCR,” he said.
KTR said the Telangana government constructed the world’s largest lift irrigation system, and Hyderabad bagged the Green City award twice. “Yet, the Prime Minister, who often talks about Vocal for Local and Atmanirbhar Bharat, never refers to the successful Telangana model on any platforms. I wonder why Modi has so much hatred and contempt for Telangana,” he said.
Leader of the Opposition and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Akbaruddin Owaisi on Saturday alleged that the Centre had been showing step-motherly treatment towards Telangana by not giving its due share in finances and projects.
He said the Centre had not fulfilled any of its promises, like the railway coach factory in Kazipet and steel plant at Bayyaram and didn’t grant “a single rupee for projects like Mission Kakatiya, Mission Bhagiratha and Kaleshwaram lift scheme”.
“Yet, the Governor’s address doesn’t mention even a single word about the Centre’s discrimination against the state,” he said.
Congress MLA T Jayaprakash Reddy alias Jagga Reddy alleged that the TRS government was only resorting to the rhetoric on welfare and development but, in practice, was not fulfilling its promises.
He demanded that the government should implement a crop loan waiver scheme, allocation of 100 squares of residential plots for the poor, release of funds for the local bodies and unemployment allowance to the jobless youth.
Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker M Raghunandan Rao said the government had not been releasing special development funds for the assembly constituencies as promised by the Telangana government. “Only Gajwel, represented by the chief minister, got ₹890 crore and Siddipet ₹780 crore in the last nine years,” he said.
He also alleged that there was no mention of crop loan waiver and completion of double-bedroom houses in the governor’s address. “Though the government had promised to extend Dalit Bandhu to all the constituencies, it has not been done so far,” he said.
