The country's youngest State has achieved self-sufficiency in core sectors and attracts foreign investment, too
Telangana, the youngest State of India, has the distinction of defining, designing and delivering many unique developmental and welfare programs as it turns eight years old on June 2. The initiatives taken by the KChandrasekhar Rao (KCR)Government are now collectively known as the Telangana Model of governance, ready to be replicated anywhere in the country.
Leading and the newest scheme is Dalit Bandhu. It is the leading policy of Chief Minister KCR to empower the Dalits by extending free financial assistance of Rs.10 lakh to each Dalit family in the State in a phased manner. The intention is to enable the Dalits to start their own enterprises. It is one of the biggest cash transfer schemes in the country.
The Government is incentivising farmers to go for alternate crops to maximise their incomes. Telangana has emerged as the seed bowl of the country. Rythu Bandhu Samithis have been formed in the State to bring the farmers onto an organised platform and to create awareness among them to link crop production to demand.
The Government is distributing sheep at 75% subsidy to the Golla Kurumas community. As a result of this measure, the meat production increased to a record level.With the development of water resources and the proactive policies of the Government including assistance to fishermen and distribution of fish seedlingsto
beneficiaries,fish production increased enormously.
Yet another programme, Rythu Bandhu, isan investment support for agriculture of Rs 5,000 per acre per season totalling Rs 10,000 per acre. Itis being extended without any ceiling on the land holdingsbenefitting nearly 60 lakh farmers. A complementary scheme, RythuBima, provides financial security to the farmers' families in the unfortunateevent of death of a farmer. An amount of Rs 5 lakh is paid to the family of the deceased. The government pays the
premium for the insurance coverage.
To alleviate the hardships of the farmers, Government tookup Kaleshwaram Project, the world's largest multi-stage lift irrigation project. Telangana is the first in the country to have conceived Mission Bhagiratha to provide protected and safe drinking water to every household in all the habitations in the State. Mission Bhagiratha has been completed within a record period and today cent percent households are getting the benefit of this. This Mission has once and for all put an end to all water-borne diseases in the State.Telangana which was facing acute power crisis at the time of formation, overcame the problem within six months of KCR assuming office.
Telangana has become the role model by launching the most investor-friendly industrial policy TS-I PASS facilitating approvals for industries in a time bound manner based on self-declarations.This resulted in large scale investments providing employment to lakhs of persons. The pharma city and the textile park are the other major initiatives, which will make Telangana one of the major industrial hubs in the country. Hyderabad, the capital city of Telangana, has emerged as a major centre for the IT sector. Some of the multi-national companies have expanded their activities significantly. A number of innovative welfare schemes like Aasara Pensions, Kalyan Laxmi, Shadi Mubarak, KCR kits, Brahmin welfare, etc.,and scale of assistance, have no parallels. The State received a number of awards from the national as well as international organizations, strengthening the Government's resolve to achieve the ultimate goal of Bangaru Telangana within the shortest possible time.
State's GSDP growth has consistently been higher than the national GDP growth since 2015-16 and the gap has been widening. Despite the adverse impact of Covid-19 pandemic, Telangana ducked the declining growth in most of the States and the country by clocking a positive GSDP growth as compared with the negative growth in the national GDP. The fact that Telangana withstood the havoc of the pandemic is a testimony to the strong foundations laid since the formation of the State for sustained and resilient economy. The contribution of Telangana to country's GDP improved considerably.
The growth performance of Telangana has been commended by the NITI Aayog. It observed that Telangana is one of the fastest growing States in the country. In terms of growth of per capita income, a very broad measure of economic development and average living standards, Telangana's performance has been spectacular. The per capita income of Telangana is higher than the national per capita income.
(The writer is Chief Public Relations Officer to Chief Minister, Telangana. The views expressed are personal.)
