Centre cannot afford to ignore development in Telangana: KTR

Telangana is the only State, which has spent Rs.15,690 crore in ULBs and executed different works, including Pattana Pragathi, Swachh Bharat Mission, CM assurances, Mission Bhagiratha, State Finance and others, the Minister said.

Hyderabad: The Centre cannot afford to ignore the development happening in Telangana, especially the good work being done in the State’s villages and towns, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao said here on Thursday.

Stating that the Telangana government had spent a staggering Rs.15,690 crore in 141 Urban Local Bodies, excluding Greater Hyderabad, over the last nine years, Rao said the union government could not ignore the good work being done in villages and towns in the State.

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Telangana was leagues ahead of other States in terms of development. There was no great friendship between the State and Central governments and yet, the development that was happening in Telangana was something the union government could not afford to ignore, he said.

“Still, there is lot of scope for improvement and opportunity to grow, besides lot of work to do,” the Minister said while addressing a workshop on Pattana Pragathi here.

Perhaps, Telangana was the only State that has spent Rs.15,690 crore in ULBs and executed different works, including Pattana Pragathi, Swachh Bharat Mission, CM assurances, Mission Bhagiratha, State Finance and others, the Minister said.

The national level awards presented by the Centre to Telangana’s ULBs reflect the good work being done by the State government. In Swachh Survekshan rankings, Telangana had bagged 26 awards this year. Similarly, in Swachh Survekshan Grameen for December 2022, the top three performers were Rajanna Sircilla, Karimnagar and Peddapally in the four star category, he said.

The entire credit goes to employees and senior authorities, especially Commissioner and Director Municipal Administration N Satyanarayana more than the elected public representatives for these achievements, the Minister said, adding that details of the Rs.15,690 crore spent in executing different works would be shared with all elected public representatives.

Municipal Administration was not always about money and governance was not about spending money. It was about bringing reformative legislations to help the people, he said.

Telangana had introduced TS-bPASS and no other State had so far introduced such a programme. Since the launch of this building approval system, 1.70 lakh applications (without Hyderabad) were received and processed.

“No other State government has brought in such a legislation, which helps citizens in getting building plan approvals in a transparent manner” the Minister said, instructing Additional Collectors (ULBs) to discuss the TS-bPASS with local town planning officials to address issues, if any.

Calling for any amendments in the Municipal Act, if it would help in delivering good service to the citizens, Rama Rao said his commitment was to make Telangana’s MAUD a role model to other States.

During the next Pattana Pragathi programme on February 24, Municipal Commissioners, Additional Collectors (ULBs) and Municipalities which execute innovative works in city innovation and city greening would be recognized and felicitated. Apart from felicitations, there would be incentives to the best performing ULBs, he announced.

‘Master plans aimed at structured development’

Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao said master plans were being prepared to ensure structured and planned development of towns and cities.

Master plans should be favourable to people and not against them. Many master plans were in the draft stage and if there were any objections, they should be listed and discussed with senior authorities, he told officials.

In the wake of protests in Kamareddy over the master plan, the Minister wanted the officials to sensitise people. “It is still in the draft stage. It can be changed as per the opinion of the people. Due to misinformation, people end up thinking that Telangana government was doing injustice to them” he said, adding that the State government was for and by the people. Asking officials not to heed to any pressure, he said ultimately, what was beneficial to people should be done.