KTR tom-toms State development in 10 years

•  TS leads in per capita income in India, besides being one of the fastest-growing States in terms of GSDP
  
•  Reduced the multidimensional poverty from 13.18 per cent in 2014 to 5.8 per cent in 2023
•  First State in the country to provide potable drinking water to every house
•  KCR constructed irrigation projects with an expenditure of `1.70 lakh cr
•  In paddy production, TS was ranked 14 and surpassed Punjab and Haryana

Hyderabad: Listing out the development taken up in the last ten years in the State in the form of ‘Trailblazer Telangana’, the BRS working president KT Rama Rao on Thursday challenged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to show a State which had developed like Telangana.

Rama Rao said that except Hyderabad, the remaining nine districts were declared as backward by the then Congress-led Union government, and these districts were receiving Backward Region Grant Fund. He said that due to rapid development, Telangana’s each district recorded higher per capita than the national average. Despite facing many teething problems as a newly formed State, Telangana emerged as a progressive State within a decade, he said. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao with a vision had constructed Kaleshwaram and other irrigation projects with an expenditure of Rs 1.70 lakh crore which made Telangana overcome the drought situation.

KTR further highlighted that Telangana leads in per capita income in the country, besides being one of the fastest-growing States in terms of GSDP. More importantly, Telangana reduced the multidimensional poverty from 13.18 percent in 2014 to 5.8 percent in 2023. He said that the agri-production increased drastically in the State and in paddy production, Telangana was ranked 14 and today it has surpassed Punjab and Haryana.

Besides extending RythuBandhu and RythuBima for farmers, the BRS government provides a 24-hour free power supply to the farmers. It spends Rs 1,000 crore per month towards free power supply to farmers, he said, adding “PM Modi had promised to double the farmers’ income but it does not happen with mere dialogues. KCR made it a reality by supporting agriculture and allied sectors and ushered in five revolutions.”

Rao said that Telangana was the first State in the country to provide potable drinking water to every house, and the same was acknowledged by the Union government in the Parliament. “The CM had promised to provide tap connections to every household, failing which he would not seek votes. Today, he has fulfilled his promise made to Telangana,” KTR recalled.

Coming down heavily on opposition parties for politicising the Meddigadda issue, he said engineering issues occur in projects. There were issues in Dowleswaram Barrage, Prakasam Barrage, Nagarjuna Sagar, and even Srisailam project. The agency had announced all the repair works would be taken up and there would be no burden on the State exchequer, he said, adding “Politics will continue even after December 3 but opposition parties should not mislead people and defame the government.”

Stressing that the BRS government was committed to completing the PalamuruRangareddy Lift Irrigation by 2024, he pointed out that this was being done despite an inimical Union government, which failed to address River Krishna water disputes between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. “If Congress gets power, people will lose power,” KTR said, citing the example of Karnataka. In the 58 years of its rule, the Congress could manage to set up a 7,000 MW installed power capacity but after the formation of Telangana, the BRS government had improved it to 18,567 MW. After Damarcherla becomes operational by next year, the installed power capacity would increase to 24,000 MW, he added. Referring to the reconstruction of the Yadadri temple, the BRS working president said “CM KCR is a devout Hindu and not a political Hindu.”