Reinventing Bangaru Telangana

The First Steps for Bangaru Telangana.The birth of Telangana as the 29th State of the Indian Republic marks both a beginning and an end. It was the end of a prolonged struggle of six decades by the people of Telangana to carve out a separate political and cultural identity for them. It was also the beginning of a process of reinventing a new identity, policies and programmes to address the special needs of the area and to suit the genius of the people of Telangana. Many of the Government schemes designed in the past suffered from an inherent bias and hence needed a correction through a conscious process of reorientation and reformulation. This was the biggest challenge that confronted the Government of the new State. These sentiments were echoed by Sri Eatala Rajender, Hon’ble Finance Minister, in the budget speech, in the following words:

Our State of Telangana is the result of a prolonged struggle by two generations of people over six decades, during which many have lost whatever little they had and some even their lives. We salute them all and also place on record the critical contribution made by the Hon’ble Chief Minister Sri.K.Chandrasekhar Rao, who successfully led all sections of people in carving out separate Telangana State.”
This context commands the Government to ensure judicious use of resources for fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of not only the present but also future generations. Accordingly, the Government has presented the budget keeping in view the importance of ensuring a bright future for the people of Telangana.”

“We are aware of the opportunities lost and problems accumulated as a result of deliberate neglect of Telangana. The immense task before the Government is not only correcting the historic wrongs but also quickly imparting social and economic justice for the vast majority of the people.”

“Telangana has suffered on all fronts. With the realisation of separate Statehood, people have realised the fruits of self-rule. Though we have direct control over the affairs of the State, a number of indirect forces are bent on creating hurdles in our efforts to develop the State.”

“The Government is committed and determined that with the active support of people, all the hurdles in the path of development will be overcome. I am confident that the spirit and dedication with which separate Statehood has been achieved will continue to drive the State towards realising the goal of ‘Bangaru Telangana.’’
“For reconstructing the State, we need to reinvent and reorient Telangana. As everyone will appreciate, there are no easy solutions or short cuts. The serious and concerted action is needed to address the past neglect.”

The Budget presented in March 2015 was not merely a statement of accounts. It was an endeavour to chart the path of development to be pursued by Telangana in different sectors in order to optimise its growth potential and also to address the felt needs of the people. For every sector, attempts were made to identify Telangana-specific issues/problems which needed to be addressed marking a conscious departure from the past. In the last few months, signifi cant first steps have been taken in various fields which have started yielding results. This document attempts to analyse the impact of some of these new schemes and identifies the required next steps.

The challenge is to sustain the new schemes and to ensure that the benefits reach the targeted persons/groups. The dynamics of policy making need to place people at the centre of the planning process and the Government of Telangana stands committed towards this end. As Sri K. Chandrashekar Rao, Hon’ble Chief Minister said, “I firmly believe that growth, and even legitimacy, has no meaning if the deprived sections of the society are left behind. We fully share the concerns that inclusive growth should not only ensure a broad-based flow of benefits and economic opportunities but also encompass empowerment and participation. The initiatives were taken by the Government since the formation of the State in June this year have entirely been guided by these compelling imperatives.”

Progress and analysis of policy announcements and programmes launched can be termed as the first steps in reinventing Telangana. These programmes and policy announcements serve as useful pointers of the vision and the milestones on the road to progress and realisation of ‘Bangaru Telangana’. The new vision can be broadly summarised as “progress with distributive justice”. For the new leadership, progress is not mere material progress, as indicated by the GDP, but a sustained improvement in the well-being of the people, including the economic, social and cultural dimensions. Further, this progress and development should be sustainable in that it should not reduce the capacity of the State to meet the needs of its future generations. This new vision of the State leadership is embodied in the various new initiatives and policy announcements made since the formation of the new Government in the State. A brief review of these developments and policy initiatives will be of relevance in this context.

In line with the new vision for reinventing Telangana and considering the needs and aspirations of the people of Telangana, the Government has formulated several welfare schemes, with a special focus on the disadvantaged sections like SC, ST,BC and minorities of the society.

One of the most important welfare initiatives of the Government is the ‘Aasara’ pension scheme introduced last year, covering the poor and vulnerable population like widows, weavers, toddy tappers, old aged people and AIDS patients. Under this scheme, a monthly pension of Rs. 1,000 per month is disbursed to ensure the minimum dignity of livelihood of these vulnerable groups. Similar welfare measures are announced for beedi workers for extending a financial assistance to the tune of Rs.1000 per month to every eligible worker. Power loom weavers are another economically distressed group who have been extended a special loan waiver scheme.

Another significant welfare scheme of the new Government is the land purchase scheme that provides 3 acres of agricultural land to landless SC women, along with the provision for the creation of irrigation facilities, lifting devices, land development and other agricultural inputs for their sustained livelihood.

The marriage of a daughter is a major event as well as a cause for indebtedness in many families, particularly the poor. In order to help SC and ST families during weddings and save them from indebtedness, the ‘Kalyana Lakshmi Scheme’ has been introduced under which SC and ST families are extended a financial assistance of Rs.51,000 for each SC and ST girl at the time of her marriage. Similar assistance is also given to families of minorities including Muslims, Christians and Sikhs under the ‘Shadi Mubarak Scheme’ at the time of their daughter’s marriage.

For the people with disabilities, who constitute 2.97% of the population, a monthly pension of Rs. 1,500 is extended. Similarly, pension to old aged artists is also enhanced to Rs.1,500 per month.

Women constitute nearly 50% of our State’s population and their welfare and security is of prime importance for progress and development. Considering the importance of nutrition for pregnant and lactating women, the Government has recently launched the ‘Arogya Laxmi’ programme, to provide one full nutritious meal every day to women through Anganwadi centres.

In order to provide food security and adequate nutrition to the poor families in the State, the Government has enhanced the quantum of subsidised rice supply. An eligible person will receive 6 kgs per month at the rate of Rs.1 per kg, without any limit on the number of members in the family, with effect from 1st January 2015. The eligibility limit has also been enhanced from family annual income of Rs.60,000 to Rs.1.50 lakhs in rural areas and Rs.75,000 to Rs.2.00 lakhs in urban areas.

The new Government is also committed to meet the housing needs of the poor with a provision of two bedroom houses with a hall, kitchen, bathroom and a lavatory at a unit cost of Rs.3.5 lakhs.Recognising the contributions made by the Government employees, the Government has announced a liberal increase in their salaries with 43% fitment and has issued health cards for cashless treatment in designated hospitals.

Similarly, journalists and lawyers have also been recognised for their contributions in the struggle and have been suitably rewarded.
Education and health are critical social sectors without which economic and social development cannot be achieved. The Government is committed to overhauling and strengthening the public education system from KG to PG in a phased and systematic manner. The Government is also committed to the revival of public health systems and to make them affordable and reliable for the common man. Adequate investments will be made in these two important sectors to educate the people and promote their health and wellbeing in order to make them contribute to the realisation of the goal of ‘Bangaru Telangana’.

Agriculture, though declining in terms of its share in the State income, is nevertheless critical for sustained economic and social development as majorities of State population reside in rural areas and depend on agriculture and allied sector activities for their livelihood and food security. However, this sector is currently facing severe challenges due to declining land productivity, shortage of water, unremunerative prices, the high cost of cultivation and climate change. As part of reinventing Telangana, agriculture needs to be rejuvenated and made remunerative to arrest rural distress and farmer suicides. The announcement of farm loan waiver up to one lakh rupees comes as an immediate response to address farmer distress. Further, in order to ensure remunerative prices to farmers for their produce, a market intervention fund of Rs. 400 crores are also set up.

As a long term measure to reinvent agriculture, ‘Mission Kakatiya’ a major flagship programme, is launched by the new Government wherein traditional tanks and minor irrigation sources will be revived to benefi t agriculture and drinking water sectors. This will be done by improving the surface as well as groundwater availability for extending the coverage of irrigated agriculture in the state.

In order to make farming profitable by diversification and value addition, the Government is focusing on seed production to promote the state as ‘Seed Bowl’, horticulture development using greenhouse technology and other modern farming techniques. The Government is also emphasising on the consolidation of holdings to a minimum economic size to ensure farm viability. The Government is extending support to dairy and fisheries sectors also in the State. Dairy farmers who supply milk to Government Dairy Federation get an additional amount of Rs.4 per litre. With the revival of tanks and minor irrigation sources, inland fisheries are expected to expand in the State. In order to encourage farm mechanisation, reduction of cost of cultivation and improvement of farm productivity, the Government has reduced the tax on tractors and trailers.

Development of social and economic infrastructure is a prerequisite for faster economic growth and development. The Government is determined to address this critical need and accordingly key investments are planned in this sector.

Drinking Water is a basic need which has to be provided to every citizen at an affordable cost. To achieve this, the Government has decided to earmark 10% of water in irrigation projects for drinking water and launch the ‘Telangana Drinking Water Supply Project’ to provide protected and piped drinking water to every household in the State by linking all the projects and habitations through a network of pipelines. The Government has earmarked an amount of Rs.40,000 crore for this and is proposed to implement this over the next three to four years.

Energy is a key input for industrialisation and overall development. After bifurcation of the State is facing a severe shortage of power due to inadequate investments in the past. The Government has taken several measures to overcome this gap and is planning to add 20,000 MW of power generation in the next fi ve years while making all efforts to purchase power from the neighbouring states and national level sources to meet the current needs. Simultaneously, the emphasis is given to renewable sources of energy, particularly on solar power generation in the State.

Considering the importance of road network in the economic and social development, much emphasis is laid on enlarging and strengthening the road network. Necessary investments will be made in this sector for improvement of road connectivity. The State is also actively pursuing to expand the rail network to facilitate faster economic development. Hyderabad Metrorail Project, which is in an advanced stage of completion, is also likely to improve the infrastructure efficiency in the metro regions.

Industrialisation holds the key to achieving higher growth trajectory and employment generation. Realising this, the new Government has laid adequate emphasis on rapid industrialisation in the State. The State is already the favoured destination for many investors from India and abroad due to its natural resources, availability of skilled manpower and technological base. In order to capitalise on these advantages, the new leadership is taking several steps to improve the investment climate in the State.

The Government has unveiled the new ‘Industrial Policy Framework, 2014’ with a vision for industrialisation of Telangana, christened as ‘Research to Innovation; Innovation to Industry; Industry to Prosperity’. The industrial policy framework will be driven by the slogan of ‘In Telangana-Innovate, Incubate, Incorporate’. The policy framework intends to provide a business regulatory environment where doing business would be easy. Innovation and technology will drive the industries of the Telangana State.