Asserting that the Congress Government is committed to implement the six guarantees it has promised to the people, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has said that his Government aims at setting up “Telangana Model” in the implementation of welfare schemes as benchmark for other States to follow.
The Government had started implementation of two guarantees, free bus travel for women and enhancement of coverage under Aarogyasri from Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh within 48 hours of Congress taking over the reins. The Chief Minister on Tuesday launched two more guarantees, refill of domestic LPG cylinders at ₹500 each and power supply up to 200 units a month free of cost for eligible families.
He criticised the Prime Minister Narendra Modi Government for allowing spiralling rise in the prices of domestic LPG cylinder to ₹1,200 causing hardships to poor and lower classes. The then Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Government headed by K. Chandrasekhar Rao saw the price rise as a source of revenue rather than thinking about measures to alleviate the problems of women.
He said the Government had factored in the financial situation of the State in view of the “financial crisis” staring the the State due to the policies of the previous BRS Government before deciding to implement two more guarantees. The State Government had cut down wasteful expenditure and was following financial discipline scrupulously enabling it to implement the two schemes in the larger interests of the people.
The Civil Supplies and Energy departments held wide ranging consultations with stakeholders on the implementation of the two schemes and evolved the modalities. Beneficiaries were selected based on the applications received during the Praja Palana programme held between December 28 and January 6 and the schemes were being extended accordingly.
Mr. Revanth Reddy recalled that senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had announced the six guarantees at a meeting here on September 17 and assured their effective implementation if the Congress came to power. “People trusted Ms. Gandhi who was instrumental in carving out separate Telangana and hence, gave overwhelming majority to the Congress,” he said
He said though the Government had planned a public meeting with participation of women in large numbers for announcing the schemes, it could not do so because of the election code that became operational since Monday. He cautioned the people against believing in the “false propaganda” of the BRS leaders about the Congress Government’s ability to implement the schemes and said the Government was committed to fulfil the guarantees it had given to the people.
Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said the whole country was waiting to see how the Congress Government in Telangana would implement the six guarantees it gave to the people. The Government overcame the difficulties because of the financial situation. “The seriousness of the financial situation can be gauged from the fact that the previous Government resorted to overdrafts for paying salaries to the employees,” he recalled.
The Congress Government however curbed wasteful expenditure and was pooling up resources to meet the commitments. He allayed apprehensions over the effective implementation of the guarantees claiming that elaborate exercise was taken up ahead of the launch of the schemes. He refuted claims of a section of political leaders that the Government would put in place restrictions on the implementation of the schemes and said the Government took steps to ensure that the schemes would be operational on a continuous basis.
Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, Forest and Environment Minister Konda Surekha also spoke.
