Hyderabad, March 15: Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Monday said Telangana State, which has been marching ahead with development in all sectors besides ensuring welfare to all sections of society, was now stepping into another financial year with a lot of confidence.
Telangana region, which was plunged in darkness seven years ago, soon emerged as a torchbearer to the country after it came into existence in 2014, the governor said in a joint address to the State Legislature on the first day of the Budget session here.
Glad to address the Joint Session of the #Telangana State Legislative & Council Assembly as a part of upcoming 2021 budget session. Amidst Honb Speaker,Honb Council Chairman,Honb CM,Honb Ministers ,Legislative members & Council Members of Telangana State present at Assembly Hall pic.twitter.com/XoI53tFD6O
— Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan (@DrTamilisaiGuv) March 15, 2021
Several innovative and first of its kind programmes and schemes introduced by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao placed the new State on the path of progress and turned Telangana into a progressive and forward looking State, Soundararajan said, and pointed out that the proof of Telangana emerging as a progressive and developed State one can be gauged from the fact that it is placed in the third position in the country in the Sustainable Development Goals India Index declared by Niti Aayog.
Fully aware of Telangana’s needs on various fronts, the State developed its own growth model with the individual as the centre and finding solutions to problems as the aim. It formulated plans based on available resources and the needs. From 2014 to 2019, with 17.24 per cent annual growth rate, the State increased its revenues and topped the country, the Governor said. In 2013-2014, the State’s GSDP was Rs 4,51, 580 crore and by 2019-20, it increased by 114.71 per cent with GSDP at Rs 9, 69,604 crore. Similarly, in 2013-14, the per capita income in Telangana was Rs 1,12,162, but by 2019-20, it had more than doubled at Rs 2,28,216.
Stating that the State government’s policy was to “Increase wealth and distribute it among the poor,” Soundararajan said by allocating a large share of the increase in revenues for welfare programmes, the State transformed itself into one of the best welfare-oriented governments in the country. The Aasara pensions given by the government to the poor provided the people with security to life. At the time of State formation, beneficiaries were getting only Rs 200 per month as pension which has gone up ten-folds now at Rs 2016 per month.
Pointing out that Telangana was an agriculture-based State, the Governor said the farm sector was in deep crisis in the pre-2014 era. “To pull the agriculture sector out of crisis and instill confidence among farmers, the government for the past seven years has initiated several measures in a phased manner. To optimally utilise river water in tune with the needs of the State, the government redesigned projects and completing them on war footing. The Kaleswaram Project, which created history as the biggest multi-purpose and multi-stages lift irrigation scheme in the world, is now providing water to lakhs of acres,” she said, adding that major projects like Palamuru-Ranga Reddy and Sitarama projects were being completed on a fast track.
“For the first time in the country, farmers are given Rs 10,000 per acre as financial assistance under Rythu Bandhu to ensure that farmers don’t worry about input expenditure. Families of farmers are given Rs 5 lakh under Rythu Bima policy when a farmer dies irrespective of the cause of death,” she said, adding that both these schemes had been applauded by the United Nations.
The Governor also spoke about how the State government had improved the living standards of communities that were dependent on traditional livelihood means by introducing innovative schemes for shepherds, fisherfolk, among others.
The State government, Soundararajan said, was working for the development and welfare of the most backward SC/ST communities with intense concentration and commitment. “The government brought in the Special Development Fund Act, that facilitates budgetary allocations exclusively for these communities, and these funds are spent entirely on their welfare. The government is planning to allocate some more funds for the SC/ST communities,” she said.
Overcoming a very complicated power crisis that persisted in Telangana, the Governor said the State scripted a new history as the only state providing 24-hour free power supply to the farm sector and uninterrupted power to all sectors. “This is a first of its kind in the State. The installed power capacity at the time of State formation was only 7778 MWs while it is 16245 MWs now. Then the per capita power consumption was 1356 Units which increased to 2071 units at present,” she said.
The Governor also spoke about the success of Mission Bhagiratha ensuring supply of safe drinking water to all the households in the State, quality education to students from the poorer and weaker sections of society through residential educational institutions and improved public health, among various other initiatives launched by the government.
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