by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Tuesday said it was not job of the Prime Minister or political parties to decide where is the Ram Janmabhoomi.
In his first-ever comments on the issue, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief lashed out at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for pursuing politics of communalism.
Addressing an election rally in Nizamabad town, he said the political parties should work to solve people’s problems.
“Ram Janmabhoomi, Ravana Janmabhoomi, Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi. Do political parties need to decide this?” he asked and said these issues should be best left to seers and the religious heads.
“This is not the job of political parties. We should work to solve people’s problems, provide water and electricity to farmers, solve problem of unemployment and remove their hardships. If we go on talking of Janmabhoomi, it is not going to solve people’s problems,” he said.
KCR, as Rao is popularly known, said if there was a dispute between two communities, there were courts to deal with it. “The issue is in Supreme Court. We should not interfere,” he said.
“They say we are Hindus. Are we not Hindus. Are we not following Hindu traditions,” the TRS chief asked.
He alleged that for BJP leaders, Hindus were those who target people of other religions. “Hinduism has not said this. It asks you to respect all and love all.”
“Yours’ is political Hindutva. Ours is real Hindutva. You are duplicate Hindus. Your game will not last long,” said KCR.
At an election rally in Karimnagar on Sunday, KCR had said that he was an original Hindu. In response, BJP’s Telangana unit chief K. Laxman had asked him make his stand clear on the Ram Janmabhoomi issue.
“You first spell out whether your party is a political party working to solve people’s problems or it is a party to propagate religion,” KCR told Laxman.
–IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate finance, Corporate Governance
K. Chandrashekhar Rao
Hyderabad : Proposing an unemployment allowance of Rs 3,000 per month ahead of elections, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Friday presented a Vote-on-Account Budget for 2019-20 that has an estimated expenditure of Rs 1,82,017 crore, an increase of 4 per cent over the previous year.
Presenting the interim budget in the Assembly, KCR, as Rao is popularly known, said the GSDP growth rate of the state has doubled since its formation in 2014 and its Budget for the new fiscal showed a revenue expenditure of Rs 1,31,629 crore and capital expenditure of Rs.32,815 crore.
KCR said since the Union Government introduced a Vote-on-Account budget for the next year and as there was no clarity as to what would be the priorities for expenditure, the state government too was presenting interim budget.
“In 2019-20 the estimated revenue surplus is Rs 6,564 crore and fiscal deficit is Rs 27,749 crore,” Rao said in his budget speech.
The fiscal deficit is 2.81 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).
“State’s own revenues for Budget Estimate (BE) of 2019-20 are at Rs 94,776 crore in comparison with Revised Estimate (RE) of 2018-19 at Rs 72,777 crore.
Transfers from the Centre as per BE 2019-20 is Rs 22,835 crore, while in RE 2018-19 these are estimated at Rs 28,042 crore, he said.
“The growth rate of GSDP, at constant prices, was 4.2 per cent in the two years prior to state formation. By 2017-18, this accelerated by more than twice to 10.4 per cent.”
He also proposed Rs 1810 crore in the Budget to introduce unemployment allowance of Rs 3,016 per month to the eligible.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Hyderabad : The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on Tuesday urged the Centre to amend the proposed Bill to provide 10 per cent reservation for economically backward people in the general category to include Telangana’s demand for quota for backward Muslims and Scheduled Tribes
Telangana Chief Minister and TRS President K. Chandrashekhar Rao directed his party MPs to demand the amendments to the Bill when it is taken up in Parliament.
KCR, as Rao is popularly known, recalled that the Telangana Assembly had passed a resolution for providing 12 per cent reservation for backward Muslims and 10 per cent reservation for STs and had sent the same to the Union Government.
“This resolution should be introduced in Parliament,” said a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office.
As the central government has decided to take up the issue of reservations, KCR asked the MPs to raise the issue of providing reservation to the backward Muslims and STs and demand amendment to the Bill to this effect.
The Telangana Assembly had passed a Bill in 2017 enhancing reservations for backward Muslims and STs in the government jobs and educational institutions.
Currently the reservation for backward Muslims in the State is at 4 per cent and for STs it is at 6 per cent.
As the enhancement of quota will take the overall quantum of reservation in the state to over 50 per cent, KCR urged the Centre to include the State legislation into 9th Schedule of the Constitution as was done in the case of Tamil Nadu.
The Centre has not yet acted on the State’s request.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate Jobs, Employment, Government Jobs, News, Politics, Private Jobs
By Mohammed Shafeeq,
Hyderabad : From farm loan waiver up to Rs 2 lakh to unemployment allowance and from doubling security pensions to free cows, laptops and bicycles, major political parties in debt-ridden Telangana are promising the moon to the voters.
The main contenders of power have made a whole lot of promises like one lakh jobs in first year, hiking retirement age of government employees from 58 years to 61 years, financial assistance for the marriage of poor girls and grants for women self-help groups.
India’s youngest state may be under a huge burden of public debts but this has not deterred the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Congress-led People’s Front and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from promising all sorts of freebies to voters for December 7 elections to the Telangana Assembly.
Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao told the Assembly in March that the state’s debts stood at Rs 1.42 lakh crore. The opposition parties, however, claimed during the poll campaign that this was Rs 2.5 lakh crore.
The TRS, which was already under fire from the opposition for not fulfilling most of the promises made in 2014, was the last party to release its manifesto. KCR released the document at an election rally in Hyderabad on Sunday.
KCR has been claiming that Telangana is number one in the country in terms of welfare. The TRS government claims to be spending a whopping Rs 40,000 crore annually on social welfare pensions and other welfare schemes.
The government is spending Rs 13,000 crore a year on pensions alone but with all the main parties promising to hike the pension amount, it is estimated that the allocation will have to be doubled.
The parties have vied with each other in promising the sops to the farm sector. If TRS promised farm loan waiver up to Rs 1 lakh, both the Congress and BJP promised loan waiver up to Rs 2 lakh.
The ruling party also assured that financial assistance to farmers as input subsidy under ‘Rythu Bandhu’ scheme will be increased from Rs 8,000 per acre per year to Rs 10,000.
The Congress promised Market Intervention Fund of Rs 5,000 crore and minimum guaranteed prices for 17 major crops.
The BJP has promised free bore-well or well or pump set for each farmer. BJP’s promises also include distribution of one lakh cows annually during festivals, free laptops for all students pursuing under-graduate courses and free cycles to all girl-students from class 7 to 10.
In addition to creation of one lakh jobs in the first year, the Congress promised unemployment allowance of Rs 3,000 per month to jobless youth. The TRS assured that every unemployed youth will get a dole of Rs 3,016 per month while the BJP promised unemployed stipend of Rs 3,116.
The Congress promised financial assistance of Rs 1,50,116 for the marriage of poor girls against Rs 100,116 being provided by the TRS government under ‘Kalyan Lakshmi’ scheme. The BJP said each girl will get Rs 1 lakh cash and one tola of gold at the time of marriage.
The Congress said that all Women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) will be given a grant of Rs 1 lakh each. Each SHG will be permitted to get a bank loan of Rs 10 lakh, for which the interest will be paid by the government.
The BJP declared interest free loans of Rs 5 lakh to women SHGs. They will also get free smart phones.
The Congress has pledged free treatment up to Rs 5 Lakh for all diseases under ‘Araogyasri’. A 20-30 bed hospital will be built in each ‘mandal’ (block).
The BJP assured Rs 5 crore health insurance cover for all under Ayushman Bharat Yojna and generic medicines in all mandals.
The TRS promised that double bed-room housing scheme for poor will continue and those who own plots will be provided financial assistance of Rs 5-6 lakh to build the house.
The Congress also promised Rs 5 lakh assistance. The BJP promised houses for all eligible people by 2022 and till then, the government would give Rs 5,000 rent every month.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews
By V.S. Chandrasekar and Mohd Asim Khan,
New Delhi : Assembly elections will not be held in Telangana along with those in four states this year-end if the preparedness of the poll machinery in the southern state is not “statisfactory”, Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat said on Wednesday.
Elections can be held in January or February in Telangana which has time upto March 5, 2019 for constitution of the new Assembly, he said.
“I can’t say. There is a compulsion that it must be held within six months but let me clarify there is no such law. This six months time frame is based on a Supreme Court ruling. The apex court says elections must be held at the first instance after dissolution of a state assembly and should not be delayed more than six months,” Rawat told IANS in an interview.
He was asked about the early possibility of polls in Telangana where the government headed by Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) has dissolved the Assembly and sought early elections.
Pressed further if there was a possibility of the polls in Telangana being held separately from those to be held in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram, he said, “If their (Telangana’s) preparedness is not satisfactory, we will not take a risk (of holding immediate elections).
“But if the state is prepared, there is no reason we can’t hold elections there along with Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. We can hold polls if Telangana is prepared. But there is a big ‘if’,” he said.
Rawat said that since the Supreme Court wants to hold elections at the earlist or as soon as possible, “we have taken immediate steps” for the conduct of polls.
Asked if it was still a matter of work to be done before the Commission comes to a conclusion on the election schedule in Telangana, the CEC said: “Correct.”
Giving the background of the process of elections in Telangana, he said “since Telangana Assembly has been dissolved, we immediately started preparations for the next assembly polls in the state. We have asked the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Telangana about the level of preparedness. We got his inputs and have sent a team from here.”
The Telangana CEO has said he “is battle ready, but we will wait for the report of our team. We always verify. The Commission always verifies on the ground whatever claim is made about poll preparedness,” the CEC said.
To a question whether the Telangana polls can be clubbed with the polls in the four states, Rawat said, “I can’t say if Telangana can be clubbed with the four states. The other states have been preparing for over two months, whereas Telangana was preparing for the Lok Sabha polls. But how far they are prepared, it will be assessed by the EC team.”
Rawat indicated that if Telangana polls were not held along with those in four states, then it would not be held close to completion of the polls in those states, where elections should be completed by mid-December.
Asked whether in that case polls in Telangana could be pushed to December, he said “it can be in January or February. They have time up to March 5.”
Giving reasons as to why polls cannot be held in close succession, he said: “The tradition has been to not hold elections in a series because the result of one affects the outcomes of others. It is not held in that proximity. One or two months gap is ok. Not 10 days (gap),” he added.
Asked about the controversy regarding the talk of a virtual schedule by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao after dissolving the Assembly, Rawat said, “This is not acceptable. This is wrong. The sole authority to announce elections is vested with the Election Commission. It is for the poll authority to announce a poll schedule. Nobody else can do it. It is wrong. It is not legal.”
To a query about the Chief Minister’s claim that he had talked to the CEC, he said: “The CM never met us or talked to me.”
It was the chief secretary, who met officials in the Commission and dropped the hint about the dissolution and early polls.
A former Chief Secretary from the state also met officials and dropped the hint. Both were told by EC officials that “we don’t speak on hypothetical situation. The Assembly is still there,” he said.
To queries about lack of updated rolls in Telangana, Rawat said: “There is no point in time when there is no electoral roll. There is always a roll. In Telangana too, we have an electoral roll with reference to January 1, 2018. Only thing is when polls are to be held, the Commission takes the pain of revising the electoral rolls to provide one more opportunity to those people who missed the bus.”
In this connection, he said, the election authorities in the state have been asked to take up the second summary revision of rolls and complete it by October 8 so that the rolls are ready for the polls.
(V.S. Chandrasekar and Mohd Asim Khan can be contacted at chandru.v@ians.in and mohd.a@ians.in)
—IANS
