Telangana in throes of all-round development

The biggest challenge before The Telangana government was to transform Telangana from a power-deficient state to power-surplus state. Now, power is supplied uninterruptedly without resorting to even a minute power cut. This scenario from January 1, 2018 has been expediting development in the state.

The government has liberated farmers from the perils of power shortage, which they experienced for decades together. I is committed to providing 24x7 power to all households, agriculture, industry, commercial businesses and public needs. There is an increase in the industrial output growth due to uninterrupted and quality supply of power. To augment power supply, the state has grounded Manuguru, Kothagudem and Damerachela projects adding 5,880 MW power.

To make the State self-sufficient in power, the existing installed capacity was increased from 6,574 MWs to 14,913 MWs. In an endeavour to make the State power surplus in near future, another 13,420 MW capacity power projects are at various stages of completion. In addition, the Solar Policy 2015 aims at adding 5000 MW. Telangana is the leading State in solar power generation in the country with 2,792 MW. In the days to come, the Telangana State will become power surplus state.

Doubling farmers’ income
Doubling the farmers’ income is an important framework of government and towards this it has initiated several measures. Several steps have been taken to address the agrarian distress and to revive the farm sector in the State and to revamp the rural economy by reviving the traditional activities such as, sheep rearing, fisheries dairy, etc. As the members are aware outstanding agricultural loan of Rs 17,000 crores were waived in four instalments. The government fulfilled the promise given to the farmers, by releasing the last instalment of farm loan waiver. In all, an amount of Rs 16,124.38 crore was released, benefiting nearly 35.30 lakh farmers in the state.

Rythu Bandhu
Investment support scheme for agriculture, namely “Rythu Bandhu” of Rs 4,000 per acre (Total Rs 8,000 per acre), in both the crop seasons, towards purchase of inputs such as, seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, labour costs, benefiting 58 lakh farmers cultivating over 1.42 crore acres in the State during the Yasangi and summer seasons, is unveiled by the KCR government. This will go a long way to revive the agriculture sector and help farmers to come out of the vicious cycle of debt trap.

In addition, the government has announced an innovative insurance coverage for farmers in the state whereby farmers would get Rs 5 lakh insurance cover in case of ill-health or accidental death. Various schemes like ‘green house’ input subsidy have taken off well over last three-and-half-a-years. The government has taken various initiatives to diversify the cropping pattern to high value crops. Crop colonies are being promoted in the State to increase the farmers income.

Sheep distribution
The government has decided to create a wealth of Rs 25,000 crores in the state within three years for Yadavas and Kurumas through the first ever innovative sheep distribution scheme on a massive scale. The scheme is expected to transform livestock economy and allied traditional occupations in the state, thereby making the Yadavas in the state, the richest in the country. The plan is to give 20 sheep and a ram to every Yadav and Golla Kuruma family in the state. It would mean distributing 15 million sheep in two years for Rs 10,000 crore to bring every person belonging to Golla Kuruma community under the scheme. This is the moving bank of productive assets in the form of animal husbandry to support the rural communities. State-wide mobile veterinary clinics are organized to take care of the sheep that were imported into the State and other animals.

KCR kits
Yet another challenging task government has taken up is the KCR Kits scheme for the benefit of pregnant women. KCR Kits scheme with 16 essential items useful to both mother and child is aimed at encouraging institutional deliveries at public health facilities. It is painful that pregnant women often go to work for a living. This will often prove fatal for both the mother and the child. The government has taken a humanitarian view on this and introduced KCR Kits programme.

Since the government feels that pregnant women should not go to work, the loss is borne by the government and they are given Rs 12,000 in three equal instalments of Rs 4,000 per person. An additional Rs 1000 is given to the woman if the new born happens to be a girl child. This is also a gap bridging activity to save the wage loss of pregnant women. It may be recalled that Telangana has achieved the Millennium Development Goals (MGDs) in the health sector.

By: Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao
(Writer is CPRO to Telangana CM)