KTR to help build school with Rs 2.5 crore

Kamareddy:  Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister K T Rama Rao led from the front in promoting the ‘Mana Ooru, Mana Badi’ scheme, the innovative and ambitious programme of the Telangana government to improve infrastructure facilities in government schools across the State, when he laid the foundation stone for a school building at Konapur, his grandmother’s native place, that would be constructed with his personal money. “The building will have 14 classrooms in two floors and will be completed in eight to nine months,” he said.

Speaking after laying the foundation stone for the school in memory of his late grandmother Venkatamma at Konapur village on Tuesday, the Minister said he was inspired by industrialist Subash Reddy’s gesture of constructing a school at Bibipeta mandal which he inaugurated during his last visit to the district. The Konapur school will be built at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore.

The State government will be spending Rs.7,300 crore to improve infrastructure in 26,000 government schools across the State under the ‘Mana Ooru, Mana Badi’ programme. “After addressing the power crisis, drinking water issues and taking up several irrigation projects in the first term, the Telangana government has now taken up ‘Mana Ooru, Mana Badi’ programme to improve infrastructure in all the government schools across the State,” he said.

Giving a rare personal touch to reveal the Kalvakuntla family’s background, Rama Rao said Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s family had a connection with Manair project. “My paternal grandparents Raghava Rao and Venkatamma lost vast lands during the expansion of Upper Manair Project. The Nizam sarkar had paid a compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh in the 1940’s,” he said.

“Later, during the Mid Manair project works, my maternal grandmother lost her lands in Kudurupaka village in Choppadandi constituency. Similarly, my grandmother’s sister lost lands during Lower Manair works in Vachanuru,” the Minister explained, adding: “My grandparents stayed in Posanpally till 1945 and shifted to Chintamadaka, Siddipet. They bought vast lands in the village and in 1954, Chandrashekhar Rao was born.” The Minister pointed out that several political leaders, unaware of these facts, were making baseless allegations against the family with ulterior motives. “They use abusive language with least regard for the Chief Minister and the sacrifices he made to achieve Telangana,” the Minister said.

He said since Chandrashekhar Rao hails from a farmer’s family, he accorded top priority to the agriculture sector. Apart from extending 24 hour power supply, the State government was implementing several welfare schemes like Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bima, besides completing Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme – the world’s largest lift irrigation project in a record time of four years, the Minister said.

The villagers’ appeals for CC roads, additional one lakh litre capacity water tank, two km water pipeline network, mini library, extension of Dalit Bandhu scheme and others would be fulfilled, the Minister assured. Regarding their request for a lift project at Naramalla rivulet that would benefit about eight neighbouring villages, the Minister said the issue would be taken up with the Chief Minister.