Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has asserted that his government has embarked upon systematic and planned development of rural and urban areas to ensure their all-round growth.
He criticized the previous governments led by the Congress and the TDP for neglecting the plight of the rural areas which threw the villages into chaos. “Neither was there a policy for the development nor commitment on the part of the previous governments in the united State. We have inherited the legacy and are working overtime to rectify the lapses that occurred during the previous Congress regime,” he said.
Replying to a debate on Palle and Pattana Pragati programmes during a short discussion in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, the Chief Minister took a dig at the Congress for neglecting the rural areas in their 10-year tenure. The situation in the urban areas too was atrocious with storm water drains choked due to indiscriminate permissions given to layouts and other developments. “It is estimated that over ₹15,000 crore will be required for rectifying the situation,” he said.
Drawing a comparison, he said the Congress had spent ₹4,195 crore on rural water supply during its 10-year rule while the TRS Government spent ₹36,000 crore in seven years. The same was the case with rural roads wherein the Congress took up works on road length of 13,835 km with a cost of ₹3,618 crore and the TRS government had developed 18,606 km roads with ₹8,536 crore.
“The Congress spent ₹12,173 crore in 10 years on different works in rural areas. We have spent ₹58,303 crore and the development is visible,” he said. The State was number one in utilising NREGS funds while the Congress government had no idea of how to use the funds.
“We have utilised the NREGS funds for development of public infrastructure and amenities which the Congress government had not even contemplated,” he averred. The Finance department was directed to release ₹339 crore – ₹227 crore for gram panchayats and ₹112 crore for urban local bodies and timely releases were made in spite of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in direct and indirect losses of ₹1 lakh crore to the State.
The government had asked the Panchayat Raj and Tribal Welfare departments to prepare an action plan for developing all the amenities in dalit and tribal habitations and works would start soon in this direction. “I will myself monitor the progress of these works,” he said.
Palle Dawakhanas on the anvil
The State Government is gearing up to launch Palle Dawakhanas across the State on the lines of Basti Dawakhanas that are set up in different parts of the GHMC.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said plans had been drawn to start offering medical services at the village level and the dawakhanas would be launched soon. The decision follows the need for augmenting the health infrastructure at the grassroots level amid threats of pandemics like COVID-19. The State had sanctioned 350 basti dawakhanas for GHMC limits of which over 225 were already functioning. “Some private clinics have closed their shop as these dawakhanas are providing effective medicare to people, especially those in the slums,” he said.
