CM Hints At Hike In Power Charges, Property Tax—Poor Will Not Hit

Hyderabad, March 13 (Maxim News): The chief minister KCR on Friday dealt a shock to the people of the State. He said state government would shortly increase electricity charges in state, but added that the hike will not hit the poorer sections. He said that the increase of the electricity charges was the only option to ensure the existence of the power generation and distribution companies. He made this revelation while speaking on a short discussion on Palle Pragathi in the Legislative Assembly.

He said that they would increase the power charges in such a way that the poor people of the state would not have any burden on them. He said that the increase was also necessitated to ensure the development of the villages while noting that the hike would be applied only to those people who can afford it. He urged the people to be prepared to bear the increased charges. Citing that the people of the state have voted them to power to rule them in a proper manner, KCR said that they would take action against all those public representatives who failed to discharge their duties. He made it clear that they were not scared of losing the votes of the people. He said the Government do not want to keep the people in the dark and make false promises.

He said that they had taken steps to ensure that each village of the state got Rs. 5 lakh income. He also said that they had equipped all the villages with facilities like dump yards, drinking water, over head tanks, and nurseries while noting that the development of the villages would not be possible unless the villages themselves work hard for it. He urged the public representatives to take part in Palle Pragathi and Pattana Pragathi program. He said that they had set up a committee with 45 IAS and IFS officers monitor the two programmes.

Property Tax Hike

The Chief Minister also announced that the property tax would be increased, as it was necessary to develop the villages and Municipalities in the State. He said that funds would be released to gm panchayats every month without fail. He said that some people were coming forward to donate funds for development of villages. He hailed the action of Mamidi Narsimha Reddy of Dammannapet in Warangal rural district for donating Rs.25 crores.

He said the State government will release Rs 90 lakh to each of the 12,751 gram panchayats in the State over five years, and added that a minimum assured amount of Rs 40 lakh will be released for each of 899 gram panchayats with less than 500 population which will have poor revenues and push their development.

KCR further said that Palle pragati program was giving good results and senior officers are asked to monitor development as every village now have nurseries to boost greenery, and getting safe drinking waters KCR said. By 2020-21 we will plant 23 crores of saplings for green expansion. Mission Kakatiya revived community professionals and increased locals revenue, he claimed.(Maxim News)