PROFESSIONS, CHECKERED CAREER, AND LESSONS-PART NINE (From Librarian to CPRO to CM KCR) ...... A Journey from Khangi School to Center for Excellence : Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

 PROFESSIONS, CHECKERED CAREER, 

AND LESSONS-PART NINE

(From Librarian to CPRO to CM KCR)

A Journey from Khangi School to

Center for Excellence

Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

Prefatory Note

(These reflections arise from close observation and lived experience during a defining phase in the history of Telangana. They are offered with deep respect for Kalvakuntla Chandrashekhar Rao, a leader of rare intellectual depth, political courage, and unwavering commitment to the idea of Telangana. What follows is not merely recollection, but an attempt to record how vision, resolve, and governance converged to shape a people’s destiny.

While this narrative draws upon a professional journey that spans eleven organizations and multiple institutional settings, it consciously begins with the final and most consequential phase of that journey. A brief reference to my academic formation is included at the outset only to provide essential context, before the account moves directly into the concluding chapter of my professional life.}

A defining illustration of how KCR translated leadership by example into a bold social initiative was the conception and rollout of what came to be known as ‘Dalit Bandhu.’ This was not presented as another welfare measure placed within existing templates. It was articulated as a decisive corrective step, a structural empowerment proposition intended to shift economic agency directly into the hands of Dalit families.

I had the opportunity to observe how seriously and personally KCR engaged with the idea before it reached the stage of formal announcement. The emphasis was not on assistance but on ownership, not on relief but on enterprise, not on eligibility but on capability. The Huzurabad Declaration in this regard marked a turning point in the moral vocabulary of governance. It was more than a program launch moment. It was a statement of intent that social justice must move from promise to instrument.

I noticed that KCR treated Huzurabad declaration not as a political response but as a philosophical commitment. He spoke of rewriting starting lines rather than narrowing finishing gaps. The underlying thought was that empowerment should not be incremental where historical disadvantage has been foundational. That clarity of conviction shaped both the internal administrative direction and the external communication tone.

What distinguished Dalit Bandhu conceptually was the trust it placed in individual choice and entrepreneurial judgment. Instead of prescribing livelihood paths, it enabled families to decide their own economic direction. This freedom-of-selection principle, I remember reflecting in several communication drafts as CPRO, represented a deep respect for personal agency. It acknowledged that those who have lived deprivation understand best what stability means for them. Governance, in this view, was to become an enabler of decisions rather than a designer of dependency.

Another striking aspect was that the initiative was framed with dignity at its center. There was a conscious avoidance of ‘Beneficiary Language’ and a deliberate adoption of ‘Partner Language.’ I found this shift both subtle and powerful. It required careful narrative handling so that the public discourse recognized the difference. The program was positioned as confidence capital, an assertion that social equality cannot remain theoretical if economic independence is postponed. Leading by example here meant placing state faith ahead of social doubt.

I also observed that KCR repeatedly connected Dalit Bandhu to a larger social harmony vision. He would stress that true progress is indivisible, that when the most disadvantaged advance with strength, the entire social structure stabilizes. In several interactions and message formulations handled by my PR Team, this broader framing was preserved: empowerment of one section is not sectional gain but collective progress. The Huzurabad Declaration thus stood not merely as an initiative marker but as a governance philosophy marker, where example-based leadership chose courage over caution and transformation over tokenism.

The Dalit Bandhu Scheme heralded a new chapter in the history in Telangana and the concept was spreading like a wild fire in the country when KCR was as CM. Dalit Bandhu Scheme, heralded a sea change in the lives of Dalits and had become torchbearer for Dalits elsewhere in the country. An old adage says ‘Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.’ This was what exactly CM KCR did. Government was giving ten lakhs rupees to start a business of their choice. This was making them self-reliant economically and live with dignity and self-respect.

A necessary caution, which I feel compelled to record here as part of my own considered reflection, drawn from my period of association and observation as CPRO to CM, relates to the long-term consequences, if an initiative of this nature were to be discontinued or diluted by future governments. Transformational empowerment measures create not only economic pathways but also psychological turning points.

When a State publicly redefines the confidence level of a historically disadvantaged community and then retreats from that commitment, the setback is not merely administrative, but it is civilizational in sentiment. Expectations once elevated cannot be quietly lowered without generating disillusionment far deeper than the procedural criticisms that may have accompanied the program at inception.

Even where procedural debates, design refinements, or implementation challenges may legitimately arise, as they do with any pioneering social intervention, abandonment is rarely a constructive remedy. From what I observed while serving as CPRO to CM, the true value of such a scheme lies in its directional courage. It signaled that governance was willing to attempt structural correction, not just symbolic accommodation.

If such direction-setting initiatives are withdrawn rather than improved, the message conveyed to vulnerable communities is that bold promises are temporary and systemic trust is negotiable. That erosion of trust can cost more to rebuild than any operational imperfection would cost to repair. There is also a broader governance principle involved. When empowerment architecture is introduced, ecosystems, such as social, financial, and aspirational, begin aligning around it.

Families plan differently, youth think differently, and community leadership reorganizes its priorities. If continuity is broken, these emerging support structures weaken midway. In my reflective assessment, partly shaped by my communicative and interpretative role as CPRO, it would be far wiser for successor administrations, irrespective of political standpoint, to recalibrate and strengthen such empowerment models rather than discard them. Social advancement programs of foundational intent deserve evolution, not interruption.

A major transformation that I had the opportunity to closely observe during my tenure as CPRO was in the sphere of public health and medical education. His governing conviction was that durable healthcare reform must rest on a strong and widely distributed medical education base. At the time of Telangana’s formation, the number of government medical colleges in this region was limited, with only five, and mostly concentrated in a few traditional centers. KCR viewed this as both a capacity constraint and a regional imbalance.

He therefore moved with unusual clarity of purpose to expand medical education infrastructure as a core state priority rather than a peripheral sectoral addition. What followed over the subsequent years was a rapid and structured expansion that altered the institutional landscape itself. From the small pre-formation base, the number of government medical colleges rose to seventeen within a relatively short span, with a declared direction of eventually covering every district, including remote and tribal regions.

As CPRO to CM, I could see that, this was not treated as a prestige exercise but as a public systems intervention, linking new colleges with teaching hospitals so that medical education growth and healthcare delivery capacity advanced together. The intent was to reduce both educational migration and treatment distance through institutional decentralization. Equally significant was the broader ecosystem thinking that accompanied this expansion. Parallel emphasis was laid on nursing and paramedical education and on strengthening different tiers of public healthcare so that primary, secondary, and advanced services would not grow in isolation.

In several reviews and interactions that I participated, KCR stressed that health security must be locally anchored and professionally sustained. The journey from five government medical colleges at the time of State formation to a multi-fold expanded network thereafter stands as a clear illustration of his vision matched with administrative execution, another instance of leadership expressed through institution building rather than announcement alone.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s administrative brilliance led to an unprecedented turnaround in the power sector in Telangana. The State emerged as a role model, becoming the only one in the country to provide uninterrupted 24-hour quality power to all sectors from January 1, 2018, and 24-hour free quality power to the agricultural sector throughout his tenure as Chief Minister. It was truly an ‘Amazing Evolution in Nine Years on the Telangana power front,’ a phased transformation that I closely observed.

Prior to the formation of Telangana, high-tension lines, substations, and transformers were largely dysfunctional, with hardships such as low voltage and frequent electric shocks being routine. After assuming office on June 2, 2014, KCR accorded the highest priority to overcoming the power crisis and chronic shortages. I vividly recall the first major step in this direction, the signing of a Power Purchase Agreement with Chhattisgarh to procure 1,000 megawatts in November 2014, followed by an additional 1,000 megawatts in September 2015.

Within just nine months of its formation, Telangana became the first State in the country to supply uninterrupted 24-hour power to all sectors and nine hours of uninterrupted quality power to agriculture. While KCR provided the broad strategic roadmap, its effective execution was led by TRANSCO and GENCO under the stewardship of CMD Devulapalli Prabhakar Rao, a highly experienced power-sector expert with over five decades of domain knowledge. The installed power capacity, which stood at 7778 megawatts at the time of State formation, rose to 18453 megawatts.

The construction of the Yadadri Ultra Mega Thermal Power Plant, four units of the Bhadradri Power Plant, along with the Kothagudem and Jaipur Power Plants, targeting a combined generation capacity of over 28000 megawatts, reflected KCR’s thoughtful design and administrative foresight. During his tenure, Telangana recorded a peak power demand of 15497 megawatts, placing it first in the country. Per capita electricity consumption rose to 2126 units, which was 69 per cent higher than the national average.