Telangana Cabinet decides on two guarantees to be launched on Dec 9

The two guarantees are free travel for women in TSRTC buses across Telangana and the Rajiv Aarogyasri health insurance scheme of Rs 10 lakh each

Hyderabad: The first Cabinet meeting of the Congress government that was held here on Thursday has decided to go ahead with implementation of two out of the six guarantees from December 9. These will pertain to the free travel for women in TSRTC buses across the State and the Rajiv Aarogyasri health insurance scheme of Rs.10 lakh each.

Ministers D Sridhar Babu and Ponnam Prabhakar, who addressed the media after the cabinet meeting, said extensive discussions on the rest of the four guarantees would be held in due course of time, with all the six guarantees to be implemented within 100 days. The implementation of the two guarantees that would be launched coinciding with Congress Parliamentary Party leader Sonia Gandhi’s birthday on Saturday, would be discussed with the departments concerned again on Friday.

---

The cabinet, they said, also decided to bring out a white paper on the financial status of the State, detailing the income and expenditure of the previous government. Instructions have been issued to all departments to submit a white paper on funds spent from 2014 to 2023, besides the purpose of expenditure and the benefits derived out of the works, Sridhar Babu said, adding that these would be kept in public domain upon receipt.

Stating that supply of 24 x 7 power for all sectors, industrial, agriculture and domestic, would be top priority for the State government, Sridhar Babu said officials would be asked to give a detailed report on the power situation in the State from 2014 to 2023. The past government had executed many works without proper planning and committed many mistakes, he said.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy will conduct a review meeting with power officials on Friday, during which the Gruha Jyothi scheme, which assures 200 units free electricity for all households and ensuring no disruption in power supply to farmers would be discussed.

The cabinet also discussed Group I and II examinations as well, he added.

On December 9, the oath taking ceremony of the newly elected MLAs would also take place. A senior MLA would also be appointed as Pro-tem Speaker by Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan.

As for the guarantees, Sridhar Babu said all the manifesto promises would be implemented within five years. To begin with, the government’s financial situation would be studied and plans would be laid out for implementation of the promises, besides measures for pooling in resources, he said while replying to a query on farm input subsidy and farm loan waivers.

On the crop damage suffered by farmers due to the heavy rainfall, the Minister said district Ministers and officers would conduct a preliminary damage assessment.

No portfolios allocated

Expressing surprise over allocation of portfolios, Ponnam Prabhakar said it was being reported in the media, but so far no portfolios were allocated nor confirmed.

The cabinet berths would be decided by the party high command in consultation with the Chief Minister, the Ministers added.