Telangana setting benchmarks against best in the world, says KTR

Under Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s leadership, Telangana was witnessing a rare confluence of welfare and development.

Hyderabad: Stressing that the Telangana government was ensuring both welfare and development, Industries Minister KT Rama Rao said the country’s youngest State was not setting benchmarks against the best in the country but against the best in the world.

Under Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s leadership, Telangana was witnessing a rare confluence of welfare and development. The State was surging ahead with holistic, integrated, balanced and inclusive growth, he said after inaugurating the Skill Development Centre and a common facility centre apart from laying the foundation for a toys park at Dandumalkapur in Nalgonda on Tuesday.

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On the occasion of World Environment Day, the Centre for Science and Environment released its annual report and adjudged Telangana as the top State for its overall environmental performance. Similarly, in the Ease of Doing Business rankings released by Central Government, Telangana was among the top performing States, he said.

The State Government had introduced TS-iPASS in November 2014 for transparent and time bound approvals for setting up units. Telangana was perhaps the only State, which was levying a penalty of Rs.1000 a day for officials if they failed to clear the approvals as per the stipulated time, the Minister said.

“A senior citizen drawing Rs.2000 monthly pension was happy and so were Industrialists for timely approvals and support being extended by the government. Now, this is called holistic welfare and development,” Rama Rao said.

Prior to the formation of the State, Telangana leaders and people were humiliated and questioned about their capabilities. In a span of nine years, paddy production increased from 68 lakh metric tonnes to 3.5 crore metric tonnes. Likewise, IT exports increased from Rs.57,258 crore to Rs.2,41,275 crore, the Minister said.

The Gujarat government had declared two day power holidays in a week. This was after Prime Minister Narendra Modi ruled the State as Chief Minister for a long term. Truck drivers share that while driving on national Highways, they can easily recognise the entry into Telangana due to the lush greenery and vanishing of green cover after the State border, he said.

The Telangana Government works with a vision of ensuring comprehensive development of all sectors. No other Chief Minister had the vision of planting 240 crore saplings under Haritha Haram programme and introducing mandatory 10 percent Green Budget for ULBs and rural bodies, he said.

“Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao never thinks about the next elections but always thinks about the welfare of future generations,” Rama Rao said.

Recalling experiences of his recent tours to the UK and the United States, the Minister said when a presentation was made on Kaleshwaram project before the American Society of Civil Engineers, they opined that many countries could learn a lot from Telangana’s vision and commitment.