From Trail-blazer to country’s Numero Uno : Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

From Trail-blazer to country’s Numero Uno

Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

The Hans India (01-06-2018)

Government enacted the Telangana State Industrial Project Approval and Self Certification System (TS-iPass) Act - 2014. Under this Act, Telangana is the only State in the country that has accorded a legal right for the investor to get industrial clearance, provided all compliances are in order. TS-iPass is a single window without grills clearance policy. under the policy, thousands of units got permissions and Crores of rupees worth investments came to the State generating employment for lakhs of people. The unprecedented flow of investments account for Rs.1.25 lakh crore through 6818 industrial units that were given approvals, while providing direct employment to 5.38 lakh persons. 4382 units have already commenced its production.

Handloom industry

Handloom Industry in the Telangana State occupies unique place in the country for its exclusive art and artefacts of handloom weavers. The design patterns of Pochampalli Ikat’s, Gadwal Cotton, Narayan pet Cotton and silk sarees, Warangal Durries, Karimnagar bed sheets and furnishings shows the outstanding skills of handloom weavers of the State. Providing further impetus to the sector, my Government is establishing a comprehensive Mega Textile Park at Warangal. So far, 22 investors have entered MOU with Telangana for establishment of units.

Because of all these efforts, Telangana, the youngest State of the Country secured 1st Rank in "Ease of Doing Business. A unique feature of the new industrial policy is additional support measures to encourage and nurture entrepreneurship among the SCs and STs as they face many structural barriers. This initiative is being implemented under “TS-PRIDE” (Telangana State Program for Rapid Incubation of Dalit Entrepreneurs).

Irrigation projects

In the state redesigning and re-engineering irrigation projects was a herculean task that government has taken up and the projects were not only designed but also in the process of early completion. The government has given utmost priority for the irrigation sector to create water facility for one crore acres in the State. The works on Kaleshwaram, Palamoor Sitarama Lift Irrigation schemes are on a fast track. The government has also initiated works to revive the Sri Ram Sagar Project. The Bhakta Ramadasu Lift Irrigation project has already been inaugurated, which has set a record for itself being the first of its kind in the country to have been completed ahead of schedule. This paved way for a golden harvest in the hitherto parched lands. In all my Government has taken up 23 major irrigation projects and 13 medium irrigation projects. Various measures are being taken for fast-track completion of these projects.

One of the key ongoing multi-purpose irrigation projects of Government is the Kaleshwaram Irrigation Project. On completion of this project, adequate water will be made available for irrigation, drinking and industrial use. All the irrigation projects are on fast track. When once the water is provided on full scale by Government, the Telangana farmers together will grow crops worth Rs 1,25,000 Crores per year. So far, a new Irrigation Potential of 16.64 lakh acres is created and an ayacut of 8.97 lakh acres is stabilized.

Mission Bhagiratha

Government has taken up Telangana Drinking Water Supply Project named “Mission Bhagiratha” with a commitment to provide safe, adequate, sustainable and treated drinking water for the entire rural and urban areas of the State. The project is envisaged to bring down disease burden, a causative factor for consuming contaminated water and improve health standards as well as family’s economic status thereby. Mission Bhagiratha is a Model to country and pride for the state.

Mission Kakatiya

The ancient Minor Irrigation system of Telangana was neglected due to priority assigned to Major Irrigation systems, as such the Minor Irrigation System of Telangana did not receive proper care and many of the tanks have become dilapidated. It was the dream of the Telangana people that the minor irrigation system should be rejuvenated. Government as a challenge has taken up the task of rejuvenating all the 46531 minor irrigation water bodies through a programme titled Mission Kakatiya and three fourths have been completed so far.

Houses for poor

Government decided to provide houses for poor. Moved by the plight of people living in shabby houses and to provide dignity to the poor, Government took a very path breaking decision of providing Two-Bedroom Houses consisting of two bed rooms, a hall, a kitchen and two toilets to all eligible poor families in a phased manner without any beneficiary contribution. This is unprecedented and such a programme is being taken up only in Telangana State. 1,50,542 houses are in the process of completion out of 2,72,763 sanctioned.

Godowns: To improve storage capacity of agriculture produce in the State, Government has embarked upon a massive programme for the construction of go-downs with a storage capacity of 17.08 lakh metric tons at 330 locations. The construction of many of these go-downs has been completed. On completion of these ‘Godowns’, the storage capacity will reach 22.47 lakh metric tons.

Information technology: Telangana, more particularly, Hyderabad city is a major center for information technology in the country.  Telangana is home to major MNCs like Microsoft, Google, IBM, Oracle, etc., besides Indian IT majors like Infosys, Wipro and Tech Mahindra, to mention a few. Government launched T-HUB in November 2015 which is a unique and innovative public- private partnership between Telangana and three of India’s premier academic institutions, namely, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Indian School of Business and National Academy of Legal Studies and Research. T-HUB is designed for technology related startups and its mission is to create one of the brightest and most vibrant entrepreneur communities in the world to encourage startups. The government has taken initiatives to establish IT centers in two-tier cities like Warangal and Karimnagar, the foundations of which have already been laid.

Market committee reservations

For the first-time reservation Policy is introduced in the market Committees benefitting the poor and marginalized sections in general and women in particular. 29% for BCs, 15% SCs, 6% STs and for women 33% reservations. Government has also enhanced the honorarium paid to chairpersons of Market Committees ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000.

Development of roads

Roads are one of the basic modes of transportation as more than 80 percent of the goods and passenger traffic is carried on road transportation. Government has embarked upon a task of providing quality road infrastructure by various interventions like connecting all habitations with all-weather roads; widening of roads connecting Mandal headquarters with district headquarters; widening of Major District Roads, State Highways, Core Road Network; expansion of national highways. Under Roads and Buildings Department 1,970 Kilometres length of road connecting Mandal headquarters to District headquarters and 4,665 Kilometres road length of major district roads and State highways are being widened to double road.

Urban areas development

Urban areas have become growth centers of modern economies. With 40 percent of the State population living in urban areas, Telangana stands seventh in terms of urbanization in the country. Government has undertaken comprehensive initiatives to harness the potentials of urbanization into an economic growth opportunity. Government has been working on building robust urban physical infrastructure and other civic amenities.

To provide excellent transport facilities, Government undertook works of the Strategic Road Development Plan on high priority basis. The SRDP comprises Skyways, Major corridors, Major roads and Grade separators, flyovers with a cost of Rs.25000 crore and will transform the Hyderabad city into a true world-class city.

Government has given equal importance to the development of tier-II cities and towns. To ensure orderly growth of urban areas, Government launched the ‘Telangana Municipal Development Project’ and preparing Master Plan for all the Urban Local Bodies in the State.