HYDERABAD: An atmosphere of bonhomie prevailed in the Assembly on Friday as Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan addressed the joint session of the State Assembly and the Council. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Speaker of Assembly and Chairman of Council Pocharam Srinivas Reddy and Gutta Sukhender Reddy respectively, welcomed her and gave her a bouquet.
The Governor, who was all smiles, stuck to the script and read out the speech as prepared by the State government. There were no surprises in store for either the State government or the Governor. Tamilisai did not veer off the prepared text nor were there any adverse references to the Central government in the speech. It only highlighted the rapid strides made by the BRS government in the last eight years.
On the occasion, the Governor quoted excerpts from literary works of poets Kaloji Narayana Rao and Dasaradhi Krishnamacharya, calling upon all to strive for a better world for future generations and dedicate themselves to the nation’s development.
In her speech, The Governor said Telangana had become a role model for the rest of the nation. Though the State faced several challenges, it had made rapid progress in several sectors, she said.
“The State is achieving phenomenal development on every front under the able administration of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao with the blessings of the people, due to the hard work of the people’s representatives and dedication of government employees,” she said.
Tamilisai stated that due to the enormous efforts made by the government, the revenue receipts of the State which stood at Rs 62,000 crore in 2014-15, increased to Rs 1.84 lakh crore by 2021-22. The per capita income of the State, too, increased to Rs 3,17,115 in 2022-2023 from Rs 1,24,104 in 2014-15. “The growth rate of several sectors of the economy has doubled since the formation of Telangana due to the government’s focus on capital expenditure. I congratulate the government for this spectacular progress. The inclusive and comprehensive development of Telangana has become a role model for the country,” said the Governor.
“Free and uninterrupted supply of power has increased the confidence of the farmers. Mission Kakatiya has restored the tanks built during the previous regimes. The government has built the multi-purpose lift irrigation project, Kaleshwaram, in a record time of three-and-a-half years. Irrigation water supply facility has increased to 73,33000 acres from only 20 lakh acres at the time of formation of the State. The government is determined to achieve the target of providing irrigation to more than one crore acres. This target also would be achieved very shortly,” stated the Governor.
The Governor stated that the Rythu Bandhu scheme introduced by the Telangana government drew attention from across the world. The United Nations applauded the programme on the world stage, she said and added that Telangana was the only State which transferred Rs 65,000 crore to 65 lakh farmers as investment assistance. She was all praise for the State government for providing an insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh to each farmer in the State through the Rythu Bima scheme. The Governor also lauded the Dalit Bandhu scheme under which each Dalit family gets a financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh, as historic in the country.
Guv lauds TS efforts to boost rural economy
She also spoke about the government’s efforts to rejuvenate the rural economy by providing special assistance to the rural artisans and other communities and distribution of 7,30,000 sheep units at a total outlay of Rs 11,000 crore to shepherds. “Today, the shepherd community of Telangana has the largest sheep stock in the country. In meat production, it is ranked fifth in the country. The government has taken up a large scale encouragement of the fishing sector. This is done by taking up fishing activity in the newly formed reservoirs constructed for irrigation and other water bodies.”