Telangana torchbearer of reforms: Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan

Hyderabad: Telangana has emerged as a torchbearer of the country regarding ushering reforms in all sectors and implementing novel welfare schemes. This was the gist of the joint address of the Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on day one of the Budget session on Monday.

The Governor said that the government had transformed the State and had brought in a sea change. The schemes and welfare measures taken up by the government had put the State in third position of the sustainable development goals India index declared by the UNO.

During the 80-minute speech, the Governor said despite economic recession in 2019-20 in the country, the state economy did not slip out of hands and as per the economic survey report 2020-2021 presented to Parliament, Telangana was among the few States which recovered at a fast pace.

Similarly, during the corona pandemic, the state economy which suffered some setback had bounced back rapidly. The efficient management had helped in containing the deaths due to corona at 0.54 per cent as against 1.4 per cent of the national average. The recovery rate was 98.88 per cent as against the national average of 97.2 per cent.

The State, she said, was discriminated by the successive governments in the undivided Andhra Pradesh in all respects. But after bifurcation, Telangana had brought a turnaround in all major sectors like power and irrigation. While TS is now a power surplus State, schemes like Mission Bhagiratha had put an end to the drinking water problem and eradicated fluoride problem.

She listed out schemes which were tailor-made for the benefit of farmers. Quality seeds, financial assistance of Rs 10,000 per acre for two crops, Rythu Beema along with uninterrupted power supply and irrigation facilities had resulted in making the state "Annapurna" the rice bowl of the country.

The Governor said that the government changed the face of rural scenario with the programme of Palle Pragathi and took up planned development of urban areas. Despite of Covid impact on the economy, funds to the villages were not stopped by the government.

She said the introduction of the Dharani portal and digital survey of lands was a revolutionary reform. It would do away with litigation with regards to the land boundaries and boundaries will be fixed with proper coordinates which nobody would be able to tamper.

The Governor said soon the regional ring road project of about 348 km via Sangareddy, Narsapur, Toopran, Choutuppal, Shadnagar would become a reality.

Another indication of rapid progress, she said was about 15,252 companies were given permissions under TS-iPASS which provided employment to 15.51 lakh individuals. In IT exports, the growth rate of Telangana (17.93 per cent) was higher than the national average of 8.09 per cent. She assured the people that the development and Welfare Yagna will continue and many more steps will be taken so that the fruits of progress reach all the downtrodden sections.