CHENNAI: Deputy Chief Minister of Telangana Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka expressed his dissatisfaction over the manner per capita income is calculated and said his government is working towards reducing the gap between the 'haves' and 'have nots'.
Speaking to Santwana Bhattacharya, Editor, The New Indian Express, at the 13th ThinkEdu Conclave 2025 on January 28, Bhatti criticized the methodology where the incomes of the poorest and richest are averaged to determine per capita income.
“One person doesn’t even have a 100-square-foot house, while another has a mansion spanning lakhs of square feet. Yet, both data points are averaged to calculate per capita income. This cannot be the right criterion to assess society,” said Bhatti, expressing concerns over the widening economic disparity.
Seeing the gap between the haves and have-nots, he said that the Telangana government is now working on a plan that ensures the wealth of the state is distributed among the maximum number of people.
“That’s the plan we’ve designed, and we’re moving in that direction. We’ll overcome the challenges we’re facing,” said Bhatti, who also serves as the Finance Minister. “The previous government didn’t have this kind of thought process.”
Transforming education in Telangana
Sharing insights on the topic “Building the future—How Telangana is educating its next generation”, Bhatti spoke extensively on the state’s ambitious Young India Integrated Residential Schools programme. He said that his government is creating residential schools with state-of-the-art facilities to enable children to compete at the global level.
“We are creating residential schools with state-of-the-art facilities to enable children to compete at the global level. Education of international standards will be imparted to students in these schools. We are not worried about the budget; we want to invest in the creation of human resources,” said Bhatti.
The minister said that this year, 62 residential schools have been sanctioned under the programme. Bhatti also criticised the previous government for neglecting the education sector over the past decade. “After coming to power, we recruited 11,500 teachers and plan to recruit 6,000 more,” he said.
The Deputy CM also introduced the Young India Skill University, conceptualised to equip students with employable skills. He pointed out that while Telangana has a large number of engineering colleges, students lacked soft skills, prompting the need for this initiative.
“Anand Mahindra has been appointed as the chairman of the skill university, and we are taking industrial support to design the courses,” he added.
When asked whether his government leans towards socialism or pro-investment policies, Bhatti asserted the need for a balanced approach. “It has to be a mix of both. Unless you create infrastructure and industry, you cannot generate wealth. Without wealth generation, you cannot fund freebies, social reforms, and other initiatives,” he said.