Republic Day: Telangana put social security, infrastructure on top

Hyderabad:
The Telangana government has rolled out a transparent strategy to augment welfare of the poor and to usher in balanced development in all spheres of economy and create a corruption free society, Governor ESL Narasimhan said on Monday.

Addressing the gathering after unfurling the national flag at the first Republic Day function at Parade Ground here, after Telangana state was created, Narasimhan said, "The government is of the view that corruption in the public domain, particularly political corruption, is the root cause of poverty and backwardness."

The government has strengthened governance by leveraging technology particularly in the spheres of vigilance, security and in bringing about public awareness on critical issues impinging on citizen welfare, he said.

The state's economic growth had slumped to 4.5 per cent in 2012-13 owing to marked deceleration in the growth of industrial sector, he said pointing out that the government is committed to reverse this trend with massive infusion of investments into agriculture, industry and infrastructure sectors in order to provide food security, employment avenues and trigger revenue buoyancy.

Narasimhan said the government has rightly prioritised social security and infrastructure as the basis of a balanced and sustainable development model.

"The emphasis, therefore, is on adequate funding and well thought-out strategies for promoting peace, infrastructure development, attractive industrial policies, welfare programmes for all sections, with IT as a tool of development and finally a technology driven and fiscally sound development agenda for the state."

He said majority of the districts in Telangana continue to remain backward with nine out of ten districts in the state covered under the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF).

"Despite all the constraints, the government is determined to initiate all necessary steps to regain the growth momentum and to ensure that the fruits of development are equitiously shared by all sections of society and particularly the less privileged sections," Narasimhan said.

On Hyderabad city, Governor Narasimhan said the government aims to transform Hyderabad into a global city with state-of-the-art infrastructure such as 4G, wi-fi and make it the choicest destination of IT and Pharma entrepreneurs.

Outlining various investor friendly initiatives, he said the government has adopted an investor-friendly industrial policy and put in place a Special Chasing Cell, an Escort Officer System and a Single Window Clearance System to ensure that any investor who comes up with a proposal shall return with all the requisite permits.

"The policy of the government is to ensure balanced development by developing other towns apart from Hyderabad."

"The government is committed to transform Hyderabad as a slum free metropolis, ensure power to every household and every farm, provide job opportunities to every educated youth and protect dignity of every women," the Governor said.

The Telangana government has launched a massive programme to provide safe drinking water to the entire population through a network of 1.26 lakh kms of piped water system across the ten districts at a cost of about Rs 25,000 crore, he said.

To augment water connectivity for both drinking water and irrigation, the government has taken up an ambitious programme to revive 9,600 of the 45,300 irrigation tanks in the state this year under 'Mission Kakatiya' at a cost of Rs 22,500 crore in a five-year span, he said.

To reduce debt burden of farmers, the first phase of Crop Loan Waiver scheme of Rs 1 lakh to each farmer has been successfully implemented in October 2014, he said.

With proper planning, Telangana has the potential to emerge as the seed bowl of India, he said, adding to unlock this potential, the state government has taken the initiative of developing seed chains and plans are afoot to tie up with seed companies for the purpose of marketing.

"The government is committed to revival of public health system and make them affordable and reliable for the common man by strengthening them," the Governor said.

The government will undertake all welfare and development programmes aimed at the well being of the entire society and propel the state to the top in the realm of social security, employment generation, equal opportunity to all investors and achievement of the mission of "Bangaru (Golden) Telangana", Narasimhan said and called upon youth to become partners in implementing government schemes.

In order to make Hyderabad a safe zone and an attractive investment destination, law and order will be accorded a top priority by the government through effective policing equipped with modern vehicles and weapons, Narasimhan said.

Constant surveillance with a network of 24x7 CCTV cameras and other advanced gadgets covering the entire urban agglomeration will make it a safe city on the lines of global metropolises, he said.

Narasimhan said Telangana government has set up a committee for suggesting ways and means to protect women and girl children from discrimination of various forms.

"The government has already introduced several measures such as enclosures for women in RTC city buses, 1/3rd quota for women in police force, grievance cell in every department, a 24x7 call centre with a toll-free number, SHE autos in cities, SHE police force for women protection and a drive to curb eve teasing," the Governor said.

With regard to power, the government has undertaken both long term and short term measures to meet the ever growing power demand in the state. Besides drawing up a master plan for generating 20,000 MW of power in the next three years, the State Power Generating Corporation (GENCO) has enhanced its performance by generating 13 per cent more power this season, he said.

The government believes that development at the cost of welfare would be unacceptable and has set forth an ambitious agenda for a balanced growth with a judicious mix of welfare and development programmes with the overall objective to empower people and to make them rightful stake holders in the economic and social transformation of the new State, he said.

State Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was among other dignitaries who attended the function.