Siddipet: Finance Minister T Harish Rao said Governor Tamilisai Soundarajan passed three bills that were pending for a long time only because the case filed by the Telangana government on bills pending with the Governor had come up for hearing in the Supreme Court on Monday.
Speaking to news reporters after inaugurating the trial run of the 540 MLD water treatment plant at Mangolu village in Kukunoorpally Mandal here, the Minister said the Governor had also reserved two crucial bills, the Telangana Universities Common Recruitment Board Bill and the The University of Forestry Telangana Bill, for assent of the President. Questioning the functioning of the Governor, who was keeping bills pending for over seven months at her office, Rao said this was delaying the progress of the State in many ways.
No governor had kept bills pending in Telangana for more than three days. Previous Governors had cleared the bills overnight many times after the Cabinet sent them for the Governor’s approval. Stating that the people of Telangana knew at whose behest the Governor was delaying the signing of bills, the Minister said the people would certainly teach a fitting lesson to such people at the right time.
Stating that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre was polluting independent systems like the Governor by making them work for their political gain, the Minister however thanked the Governor for clearing three bills and urged her to cooperate with the Telangana government by clearing all the bills as early as possible for the benefit of people. The Minister said the delay in the establishment of Forest University denied educational opportunities to the youth in the State. Delaying the constitution of the Common Recruitment Board, which was already there in States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and others States, was also denying employment opportunities to youngsters in Telangana. The board was intended to conduct a common recruitment test to fill vacancies in all Universities.
Rao said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his recent visit to Telangana, had said that the Telangana government was not cooperating with the Centre. However, it was the BJP-led Centre that was creating hurdles in Telangana’s growth path. The Centre had never granted any major projects or any benefits to the youngest State in the country. Moreover, it was withholding funds apart from denying projects to Telangana for political gains. However, the State had a committed leader in Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao who was leading Telangana with his visionary decisions.
The Minister said the Centre had replicated Mission Bhagiratha as Har Ghar Jal Yojana but refused to grant any funds despite recommendations from the Niti Aayog.
Panchayat Raj Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao, Zilla Parishad chairperson V Roja Sharma, MLC Dr V Yadava Reddy and others were present.