Telangana Cabinet takes major decisions in marathon meeting; deets inside

Telangana Cabinet decided to introduce three bills pertaining to the Municipal Administration, Panchayat Raj and Education departments in the upcoming Assembly session scheduled to begin from August 3

Hyderabad: In a marathon meeting that lasted for nearly six hours, the State Cabinet on Monday took multiple, crucial decisions, including release of Rs 500 crore towards relief and repair works in districts battered by rains and floods, approval for a Rs 69,100 crore expansion plan of the Metro Rail services and also to merge the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) with the government.

The Cabinet also decided to look at the possibility of passenger flight operations from the existing defence airport at Hakimpet since the Shamshabad airport was handling about 2.5 crore passengers every year. With Hyderabad expanding fast, the Cabinet decided to request the Centre to allow passenger flights from the Hakimpet airport. The Cabinet also approved the development and revival of the Mamnoor airport in Warangal.

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As for flood relief funds, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao directed the Finance department to release orders and funds immediately. The funds are for temporary repair works to restore damaged roads, canals and tank bunds apart from removal of sand piled up in agricultural fields due to the flood and other relief works.

The State Cabinet also decided to take up construction of a RCC retaining wall along the Munneru River in Khammam to safeguard the adjoining villages on the banks. The Cabinet, which paid tributes to over 40 persons who lost their lives during the recent unprecedented rains, directed District Collectors to provide ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the bereaved families. Collectors were also instructed to submit rain damage reports at the earliest. The Cabinet also appreciated two officials of the Energy department and Payam Meenaiah of Mulugu for saving several lives during the floods. They will be felicitated during the Independence Day celebrations on August 15.

“Farmers who lost their lives during the rains will receive the ex-gratia in addition to the Rythu Bima assistance that they are eligible for,” Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao said while briefing the media later.

Officials were instructed to supply seeds and fertilisers to farmers to enable them resume agricultural operations.

Further, the Cabinet decided to introduce three bills pertaining to the Municipal Administration, Panchayat Raj and Education departments which were returned by Governor Tamilisai Soundarajan, in the upcoming Assembly session scheduled to begin from August 3. The bills were passed by the State Assembly, but the Governor returned them to the government after much delay.

“The Centre is making a mockery of the people’s mandate, the elected government and the Assembly by misusing the Governor system, by keeping the bills passed by the Assembly pending. This is utter disregard for democracy with elected governments being overruled using Governors,” the Minister said. The Cabinet discussed the issue and will send the bills back to the Governor again after the Assembly passed them. He reminded that the Governor will have no option, but to approve them as they were being sent to her for a second time.

The Cabinet also cleared the names of Kurra Satyanarayana and Dr Dasoju Sravan under Governor’s quota for MLC seats. The proposals would be sent to the Governor soon, Rama Rao said, hoping that the Governor would approve the names without any issue.

In another major decision, the Cabinet decided to take complete custody of orphan children in Telangana recognising them as ‘Children of the State’. Accordingly, the government has decided to formulate an Orphan Policy and has constituted a Cabinet sub-committee to submit its recommendation after consulting all stakeholders.

“Until they have their own family, the State government will provide necessary support to orphan children,” Rama Rao said.

The State Cabinet also approved a proposal to extend Aasara pensions to ‘beedi tekhedars’ on the lines of the pension for beedi workers.

The Cabinet also approved establishment of new government medical colleges in the remaining eight districts, making Telangana the only State in the country to have government medical colleges in all district headquarters. It also decided to implement a hybrid system in all four Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) hospitals being established on four sides of Hyderabad to provide both general consultations and in-patient services on a 50-50 basis on the lines of NIMS. Apart from this, the development of NIMS with an additional 2,000 beds at an expenditure of Rs 1,800 crore was also approved.

Land has been allocated for establishment of a South India Centre for the Kapu community in Hyderabad, following a request from the representatives of Kapu, Balija and Ontari communities. A horticulture college will also be established in Mahabubabad.