The strange case of Telangana’s multiple Cabinet sub-committees

To begin with, the State government had constituted a cabinet sub-committee under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on finalizing the State emblem, Telangana Thalli statue and State song

Hyderabad: Since the Congress government came to power in the State last year, over 10 cabinet sub-committees have been constituted to look into different issues.

However, most of these committees hardly meet regularly to discuss the issues they were established for and make recommendations accordingly to the government.

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As there are 12 Ministers, including Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in the cabinet, many Ministers are part of different cabinet sub-committees.

Save for a couple of them, a few committees have so far have not disclosed their findings or submitted reports to the government. This apathy and delay is defeating the very purpose of establishing them.

To begin with, the State government had constituted a cabinet sub-committee under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on finalizing the State emblem, Telangana Thalli statue and State song.

The State government had announced that the committee would meet and seek suggestions and recommendations of different sections before finalizing the Telangana Thalli statue design.

In contrast, the government did not take all sections into confidence and went ahead with a new design of the Telangana Thalli and the statue was unveiled at the Secretariat on December 9.

Soon after coming to power, the State government had received Praja Palana applications from people on guarantees, including houses, power, gas cylinders etc. On January 8, a cabinet sub-committee was constituted under the chairmanship of the Deputy Chief Minister for effectively implementing the guarantees.

The committee had met during February and the status of Praja Palana applications and details of the beneficiaries identified as per the applications are not known yet.

Then, a cabinet sub-committee was set up under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to strengthen the education sector.

For reviving the Nizam’s sugar factory and other units, a cabinet sub-committee was constituted involving Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu. The recommendations made by the committee have not been shared in the public domain.

To address the DSC 2008 candidates’ issues, a cabinet sub-committee was constituted. Similarly, a cabinet sub-committee was constituted on the G0 317 issue. Health Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha, who is the chairman of the committee, had submitted a report to the Chief Minister on October 20. There is no update on the issue so far.

For addressing the issues of new ration cards and Arogyasri cards, a cabinet sub-committee was established. The Committee held a few meetings and the State government announced that after Sankranti festival, a new ration cards would be distributed to eligible people.

Under the Chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, a cabinet sub-committee was formed on implementation of Rythu Bharosa. In the recent Assembly session, MLAs cutting across the party lines had asked the State government, if the committee had made any recommendations and also wanted the same to be shared in the House.

Another cabinet sub-committee was constituted on paddy procurement to study several aspects, including hiring of godowns, bank guarantees from rice millers, milling charges etc.

Recently, when government employees threatened to launch strike in support of their demands, the State government constituted a cabinet sub-committee to discuss their issues and make recommendations. The cabinet has not conducted a meeting with the employees associations till date.

Last week, after holding a meeting with personalities from Telugu film industry, the Chief Minister announced that a cabinet sub-committee would be formed to address the issues being faced by the industry.