Young engineers have a key role to play in shaping the irrigation dreams of the Telangana State and in realising ‘Bangaru Telangana’ by providing irrigation facility to one-crore acres, Minister for Irrigation T. Harish Rao said here on Friday.
Speaking after handing over posting orders to 242 Assistant Engineers recruited through the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) here on Friday, the Minister said the State government was implementing transparent and accountable policies beginning with revoking the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) system.
Telangana is at a crucial juncture now, the Minister noted.
Stating that works on engineering projects were progressing on a war-footing, Mr. Harish Rao said women engineers were working better than men in the irrigation sector. The newly-recruited engineers should feel fortunate for getting an opportunity to become part rebuilding Telangana, that was exploited in all sectors in the combined Andhra Pradesh, more so in the irrigation sector.
The Minister likened the young engineers’ role in the irrigation sector to that of villages in the progress of the country. It was unfortunate that people and lands in Telangana were denied water in the past even as Godavari and Krishna rivers were flowing through its territory.
Efforts to address these two basic issues were taken up immediately after the formation of the State with Mission Kakatiya and major irrigation projects expected to resolve the fluoride problem.
Attributing a large number of farmers’ suicides to lack of irrigation facility to majority of cultivable land in the State, the Minister blamed the governments in the combined AP for migration of people from villages to urban areas in search of livelihood.
It was the responsibility of the young engineers to transform villages into growth centres by creating irrigation facility, he noted.
Mr. Harish Rao asked the engineers to put an extra bit to utilise the allocated share of water in Krishna and Godavari basins. Engineer-in-Chief (Administration) J. Vijay Prakash, Telangana Engineers’ JAC president Venkatesham, OSD Sridhar Rao Deshpande and others participated.
