Telangana is becoming a role model for entire country: Governor

Hyderabad: Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan said that the Telangana State is becoming a role model for the entire country.

Addressing the joint session of Telangana Legislature on the first day of budget session on Monday, the Governor said that the fundamental tenet of his government was faster economic growth with strong focus on inclusiveness. "The last three and a half years, since the formation of the new State of Telangana, have been a rewarding period. This phase witnessed several challenges being overcome and considerable progress achieved in many areas.

My government, apart from bridging the critical development deficit faced by the State over decades, has been racing ahead of other States," he claimed.

The Governor said that due to proactive policy measures taken by State Government, Telangana has been witnessing impressive economic growth rate since its formation. "The State economy has turned-around since formation and entered a higher growth trajectory. The average annual growth of Gross State Domestic Product of the Telangana region in the erstwhile state of AP, in the two years preceding the formation at 4% was much lower than the all India growth rate of 5.9%.

The situation reversed after the formation of Telangana. The state of Telangana clocked an average annual growth of 8.6% of GSDP in the three-year period 2014-15 to 2016-17 which is much higher than the national average of 7.5%," he said.

The per capita income of Telangana is estimated at Rs. 1.54 lakh during 2016-17 as against the national per capita income of Rs. 1.03 lakh, he said.

Stating that agriculture sector has been the highest priority of State Government, the Governor said the State Government has unveiled a comprehensive policy for addressing issues related to farmers encompassing both the farming and non-farming activities.

He said crop loan waiver scheme benefitted over 35.4 lakh farmers and key initiatives towards increase in farm productivity like Farm Mechanisation, ensuring timely supply of quality seeds and fertilizers, micro irrigation, Green Houses and Poly Houses had significant impact on farmers' income. There was a record production of food grains during the year 2016-17 of 101.29 lakh tonnes.

Narasimhan said Telangana State has created a new record of supplying 24 hours quality power, free of cost, to about 23 lakh agriculture pump sets and also to the lift irrigation schemes since January 1, 2018. He said farmers' income was broad-based augmenting revenues from non-farm activities like animal husbandry, sheep rearing and fisheries.

As against the targeted distribution of 84 lakh, 50.10 lakh sheep have already been distributed to Golla and Kurma communities with 75% subsidy. He said storage capacity of agriculture produce was increased from 4.17 to 18.30 lakh metric tonnes in the last three and a half years.

The Governor also informed that the government also completed the gigantic task of Land Records Updation programme in record 100 days through 1,507 teams in all 10,823 villages. "More than 96% of the land records were verified khata wise and were declared clear of any disputes.

New Pattadar Passbooks are scheduled to be issued very soon. Measures are being taken to resolve unsettled issues pertaining to the disputed cases. My government is coming up with initiatives for providing sustainable income to all the farmers," he said.

Nrasimhan said that the State Government has taken up 23 major irrigation projects and 13 medium irrigation projects. So far, irrigation potential of 16.64 lakh acres is created and an ayacut of 8.97 lkah acres is stabilised.

"Government is fully prepared to create irrigation potential of one crore acres. This will ensure drought-proofing of agriculture sector and mitigate the farmers' distress on a permanent basis," he said.

The Governor said that Telangana's contracted capacity increased from 7,778 MW in 2014 to 15,344 MW today. To make the State power surplus in near future, another 12,931 MW capacity power projects are at various stages of development and construction. Telangana has got the highest installed solar capacity of 3,283 MW and stands number one in the country.

Speaking about industrialisation, he said Telangana has witnessed unprecedented flow of investments of Rs. 1.18 lakh crore with approvals to 6,206 industrial units, with direct employment potential of 4.47 lakh persons.

It is noteworthy that 3,703 units have commenced their operations, he said. In Handlooms, 22 investors have entered into MoUs with Telangana for establishment of units.

The Governor, in his 24-page speech, mentioned about various other schemes being implemented by the State Government. However, he skipped mention of several flagships schemes like double bed room houses for poor and KG to PG free education.