Dists as growth engines may get special funds

Hyderabad: With an aim to promote growth engines in districts and decentralisation of development, the State government is likely to earmark special funds to all districts based on the development taking place ever since the reorganisation of districts in the State.

The districts which registered lowest per capita income and growth rate will get more funds under various developmental programmes launched by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government. State Finance department has already prepared the proposal to earmark special funds for each district based on the reports prepared by State Directorate of Economics and Statistics and the status reports on development of each district submitted by the respective District Collectors.

Barring Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Medchal and Sanga Reddy, the rest of the 27 districts registered per capita income below the national average last year. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao already instructed the district authorities to prepare District Development Plans and identify the prospects of development by exploiting available local resources. 

For instance, Rajanna-Siricilla district which had registered one of the lowest per capita income in the State is popular in handlooms with abundant skilled manpower and other related sources. The government is serious to promote the handloom industry in a big way by offering huge incentives to the weavers’ community. A special development plan exclusively for Siricilla district is likely to be included in the budget proposals.

Similalrly, horticulture, food processing and dairy farming will be promoted on a large scale in Nalgonda, Mahbubnagar and Khammam districts where availability of farm land is huge.  Officials said that industrial clusters would be established in Warangal, Karimnagar and Nizamabad districts.  

Special funds will be allocated to every district under different heads and utilise them for its development. Agriculture Department will allocate funds to promote horticulture in the identified districts and Industries Department will give more funds to promote industries in a few districts.

“The new initiative by the State government will help poor districts to overcome the hurdles and compete with other districts in the development process,” a senior official said, adding that this would also bridge the gap between forward and backward districts in the future.     

Officials said the proposal to allocate district specific funds was mooted by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao last year. However, the delay in the submission of the reports by the District Collectors forced the government to defer the plan. Finance Department, in consultation with the concerned departments, finalised proposals for some districts. Once the proposal gets the Chief Minister’s nod, special funds for districts will be included in the budget proposals to be presented by Finance Minister Eatala Rajendar in the Assembly.