BRS 3.0 will ensure housing for all, food processing industries in every mandal: CM KCR

Apart from food processing units in every mandal, focus would be on construction of double bedroom houses, houses under Gruhalakshmi scheme and also housing sites for the needy.

Hyderabad: BRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Monday said housing for all and establishment of food processing industries across Telangana would be the top priorities of the BRS government during its third term.

Apart from food processing units in every mandal, focus would be on construction of double bedroom houses, houses under Gruhalakshmi scheme and also housing sites for the needy.

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“The BRS will ensure that every family without a house of their own will get one in the next five years,” he said at the Praja Ashirvada Sabha meetings in Manakondur, Station Ghanpur, Nakrekal and Nalgonda constituencies on Monday.

Stating that the food processing industries would improve employment opportunities for local youth and ensure remunerative prices to farmers for their crops, the Chief Minister also promised to abolish the fee for annual renewal of fitness certificates issued to auto-rickshaws, providing much relief to over five lakh auto-rickshaw drivers. Telangana was the only State to waive off tax on auto-rickshaws, he added.“The merger of the TSRTC in the State government and regularization of the RTC employees also will be completed after the Assembly polls. It got delayed as the Governor did not give her consent,” he said.

Chandrashekhar Rao said Telangana suffered for 58 years in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, and had become synonymous with drought, power and water crisis, hunger deaths, migration for livelihood, suicides of weavers and farmers, debts and other issues. After the BRS came to power, it was addressing each issue in a phased manner, with focus on agriculture, health, irrigation and other essential facilities.

Besides welfare of the poor, the State government launched numerous pro-farmers initiatives which propelled paddy production to three crore tonnes per annum. “Around 7,500 procurement centres were set up across the State to purchase the entire paddy crop from farmers, despite the government incurring losses to some extent. Today, we are producing three crore tonnes of paddy,” he said, listing out the measures taken for the growth of the agriculture sector including Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima, free power and water supply among others.

Chandrashekhar Rao also came down heavily on the Congress leadership for resorting to cheap politics over implementation of the crop loan waiver promised by the BRS during the 2018 Assembly elections. He said the scheme got delayed due to a severe dent in the State’s tax revenues following the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the financial issues, the State government released necessary funds and completed disbursement of amount to farmers with loans of less than Rs.1 lakh.

“Only a few are left. We could not deposit the amount into their bank accounts as the Congress complained to the Election Commission of India (ECI) against release of funds. The Congress leaders got it stopped and now, they themselves are trying to blame the government. However, the funds will be released after the elections,” he assured.

Exuding confidence that the BRS would return to power for a third time, Chandrashekhar Rao said the latest survey results received by him indicated the party’s victory in the November 30 Assembly polls.