Medak: People have embraced KCR’s leadership, says Harish Rao

Medak: Finance Minister T Harish Rao on Monday said that people had declared a permanent holiday to the Congress party, which gave power holidays; they have embraced leadership of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar R, who ensured uninterrupted power supply.

Rao attended the Vidhyut Day celebrations, organised by Transco as the chief guest, commemorating the Telangana decennial celebrations in Medak district. He viewed a documentary presented by the department. Rao acknowledged the challenges faced by farmers during the previous regimes and spoke about ‘significant’ improvements brought about by the government in the power sector in a short period.

The minister criticised the Telugu Desam government for burdening farmers with inflated electricity bills. Hementioned that KCR, recognising the plight of farmers and the need for a separate State, fought for their rights. Recalling past incidents, he condemned the use of force against farmers who protested against increased electricity bills, citing an instance where farmers were shot near Bashirbagh. He mentioned a scheme introduced by the previous government,'Own Your Transformer,' which allowed farmers to borrow and purchase their own transformers.

Rao highlighted the consequences of unreliable power supply, such as exploding transformers and burning motors, under the Congress government's free scheme. He recalled the two-day protest held at the sub-station in Siddipet, demanding action against the then CM Rajasekhar Reddy for neglecting transformer issues. He mentioned the efforts made by him to secure 100 transformers for Siddipet, supported by Congress MLAs at the erstwhile Medak ZP meeting.

The minister said motors and transformers no longer malfunctioned, bribery was eliminated, and necessary infrastructure improvements were made to benefit farmers across Telangana. He expressed confidence that everyone benefited under KCR's governance and his promise of providing 24-hour free electricity for agriculture and accepted that substantial progress had been achieved.

He criticized the Centre’s proposal to privatise power, warning that it would lead to job losses for the department employees. Praising the CM as protector of Telangana, Rao credited his unwavering efforts and a budget allocation of Rs 39,000 crore for strengthening the power distribution. He cautioned that the return of Congress rule would result in an unstable power situation, including frequent motor and transformer breakdowns.