Transformation of Telangana State at fast clip

The new State of Telangana came into existence on June 2, 2014 as the 29th state of India. This, however, became possible only after nearly six-decade-long relentless struggle, fulfilling the long-cherished aspirations of nearly four crore people to establish their identity and chart their own future.

In the combined state, Telangana suffered injustice on all fronts, more particularly in the development of irrigation, allocation of resources and employment (Neellu, Nidhulu, Niyamakalu). What the new State inherited was acute shortage of power, unscheduled power cuts forcing the industry to shut down or operate on shifts, gross underutilisation of irrigation potential, which made agriculture in Telangana drought-prone and unsustainable, driving farmers to suicides; nine out of the then 10 districts were categorised by the Union government as backward.

There were vested interests and pessimists going around and spreading falsehood that the new State was incapable of governing itself, that it will drive away the people from neighbouring State living in Telangana, and also that industries would shift their base to other States. Their prediction was that the new State was destined to fail. Add to these, there were uncertainties regarding financial resources, acute shortage of All India Services officers because of the delay in their distribution between the successor States, and the challenge of putting the administrative machinery back on track.

Fulfilling the aspirations of people, which had remained suppressed, was the major challenge before Telangana government and its Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao. The biggest challenge before KCR and his government was how to go about reinventing and reorienting Telangana.

The new State of Telangana had a lot of catching up to do to fulfil the ambitions of its people. The same zeal and resolve with which the State was achieved has successfully been channelled and tapped to ensure development of the State. The government concern was that people had suffered enough and they should not be allowed to suffer any longer on any front.

Multi-pronged and multi-layered Effort
Towards leveraging on transition for transformation, KCR adopted a multi-pronged and multi-layered effort for reinventing and reorienting Telangana. When Telangana State was formed, the prevailing situation and environment consisted of: The aspirations and expectations of people were very high; The new state was at cross roads in terms of transition and the leadership needed to respond to challenges of change; Non-availability and ambiguity about the base line data; No laid down blue print nor any time-tested model to depend upon; Need to start everything from the scratch and prepare a long-term road map for the young and newly formed state; Requirement of setting right the imbalances in the regions and newly formed State that were neglected in the united AP governance; Decide and focus on most important and critical priorities; Chronic and acute shortage of power; Uncertainty about assured availability of water supply for drinking, irrigation and industry and many more things like that.

Envisioning Bangaru Telangana
The enthusiasm generated during the struggle and people’s movement required to be quickly redirected towards systematic development and transformation. This required conceptualising, initiating, prioritising, mobilising, aligning, organising and implementing time-bound plans for transformation and governance. This necessitated having a team of leaders with transformational leadership who not only “Lead by Example” but “Live by Example” in their thoughts, actions and life. A vision which could reflect people’s aspirations, and which could be translated in to actions, by rounding a slew of development and welfare schemes, that are interlinked and inter-related towards the goal of making it a Bangaru Telangana was required. Eventually, the development and welfare schemes that have been conceived and launched since the formation of state are grounded and being implemented in time-bound manner with total commitment.

Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao envisioned Bangaru Telangana where everyone in the State will be prosperous, healthy and happy and where no one suffers any distress. The vision of Bangaru Telangana is not a mere statement of intentions but a determined effort to transform the potential of Telangana into reality, to regain its past glory and unique rich cultural identity, which remained suppressed in the combined State. Within a short time of the formation of the State, Telangana had undergone major transition towards achieving this goal: from shackled to a growth-oriented economy, poor governance to strong and people-centric governance, from mere launching projects to effectively implementing them in a time bound manner and from promises to delivery.

By: Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao
(Writer is CPRO to Chief Minister of Telangana)