TS Budget thrust on irrigation, welfare

​Hyderabad: The proposed vote on account to be presented by the Telangana government will showcase Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s vision and targets for 2019-20. All the departments got necessary instructions from the CMO (Chief Minister’s Office) for the inclusion of the sector-wise priorities in the interim budget. 

Even though the objective of the presentation of the interim budget is to meet the non-plan expenditure for a particular period, the state government has taken up the giant exercise of allocation of funds to all important sectors such as Irrigation, Education, Welfare and Health departments aiming to lure the voters in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections for which the notification is likely to be issued in March. 

KCR has already announced substantial increase in the funds to be earmarked for the Irrigation sector every year for the completion of the ongoing major projects Kaleshwaram, Palamuru-Ranga Reddy lift irrigation scheme, etc, in his second term in power. The Chief Minister has projected the spending on Irrigation will be more than Rs 1 lakh crore in the next five years. 

After Irrigation, the government will accord top priority to Welfare as the TRS government will have to fulfill its promises in the Assembly elections. The government will allocate required funds for the increase of old-age pensions from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000. The hike in pension amount will alone put nearly Rs 5,000 crore additional burden on the state exchequer every year.  

For Education, the government will project its target mainly the establishment of more than 100 BC residential educational institutions to provide corporate-style education to the students of poor backward communities. KCR has taken up the task of setting up one BC educational institution in every Assembly segment in the state.   

Aiming to achieve ‘Healthy Telangana, the CM has already announced the conduct of health survey to prepare health profile of every citizen. Besides, KCR has also announced the conduct of dental checkups on a large scale on the lines of ‘Kanti Velugu’ conducted covering all people in the state.  Officials said KCR has already explained his government’s priorities to all important departments and instructed the authorities to ensure focus on particular schemes in the allocation of funds.