Telangana Budget updates | 95% government jobs to be filled up by locals

Accusing the Centre of imposing restrictions and resorting to discrimination, FM Harish Rao said Telangana has not compromised on development and welfare programmes of the people. Telangana will forge ahead and play an important role in nation building in the years to come. Commending the Budget to the Assembly, Harish Rao said Telangana is progressing well in an inspiring manner despite the many obstacles and challenges. The State has achieved many firsts... nation in awe of developments achieved in Telangana, he said.

Telangana Government has decided to introduce new Employees Health Scheme (EHS) in coming financial year. Employees Health Care Trust will be formed with representatives from government, employees, teachers and retired employees. The modalities relating to this Trust will be formulated shortly. The Telangana Government is implementing an effective mechanism to ensure that there is full justice to the local people in the government jobs, Mr. Rao said.

Previously, only 60-80% reservation was there for locals. Under the new recruitment system being implemented, 95% of the government jobs will be filled up by the locals.

Telangana Government has accorded sanction for filling up of 1,61,572 posts through direct recruitment from June 2014 to February 2022. Of these, selection process completed for 1,41,735 posts.

In addition, in March 2022, CM KCR announced 80,039 posts in different categories will be filled up. The recruitment process is actively going on, said FM Harish Rao. For the salaries of newly recruited employees, an additional amount of ₹1,000 crore is proposed in the Budget. From April, 2023, contract employees will be regularised and the pay scales of employees of SERP will be revised.

On Employees Welfare, Telangana FM Harish Rao said is a matter of pride that the highest-paid employees in the country are Telangana employees. Telangana employees are getting better salaries compared with Central Government employees and employees of other State Governments.

Telangana has never compromised the interests of employees and teachers, even in the face of the Centre imposing cuts in release of funds and imposing various restrictions as well as the huge commitments on account of the State’s welfare and development programmes.

A key factor behind the State attracting investments like no other State is the better law and order. Telangana Government has created 31,198 new posts of police personnel till now, Harish Rao said.

As part of Mega City Policing, it has been decided to further strengthen Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda Police Commissionerates.

For proper surveillance, 9.8 lakh CCTV cameras have been installed. Telangana has created a record in the country of installation of such a large number of CCTV cameras, Mr. Rao said.

Towards encouraging food processing sector, Telangana Government has proposed 21 new special food processing zones in the erstwhile 9 districts of Telangana, except Hyderabad. These processing zones will be established in an area of 7,150 acres.

On the Revenue department, FM Harish Rao said with reforms through DHARANI portal, number of cases relating to land disputes is down to a minimum. With the integration of new registration system with the Revenue department, there has been an increase in transparency and checks to corrupt practices.

Telangana has emerged as an attractive destination for national and international investments. The TS-iPASS Act has brought in revolutionary changes, improving significantly ease of getting permissions for setting up industries.

With the availability of 24-hour electricity, better law and order, stable and efficient administration, prominent national and international firms are showing interest in setting up units in Telangana. Under TS-iPASS, as many as 22,110 units/projects have been given permissions so far.

In last 8.5 years, Telangana attracted ₹3,31,000 crore ($40 billion) in investments. With this, 22 lakh 36 thousand employment topportunities have been created.

Specifically on the IT sector, Harish Rao in the Budget speech said Hyderabad has created a record in the utilisation of office space as per the report prepared by the Oxford Economics. The value of annual IT exports from Telangana increased from ₹57,258 crore to ₹1,83,569 crore, is an increase of 220% since 2014.

Telangana stood first by clocking a growth rate of 26.14% in IT exports in 2021-22. IT jobs in Telangana increased from 3,23,396 to 8,27,124. While the number of new IT jobs in the country was 4.50 lakh in 2021-22, Telangana alone accounted for 1,49,506 of them.

Echoing what Industries and IT Minister tells at almost every form, FM Harish Rao says Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook, the world’s top five new-age firms, have established their offices outside their main campus in Hyderabad. Of them, four have established their offices in Hyderabad after the formation of Telangana.

Towards encouraging the information technology industry to tier-2 cities, IT towers have been constructed at Warangal, Karimnagar and Khammam. Such towers at Nizamabad, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda and Siddipet are under construction and will become operational in coming fiscal.

FM Harish Rao appreciates Industries Department for Telangana receiving ₹21,000 crore investment commitments at the recently held World Economic Forum in Davos.

Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge, an initiative of the State Government, to equip students with latest technical skills towards enabling them to secure suitable jobs, has trained 7,09,530 students so far.

Works relating to Hyderabad Pharma City, NIMZ, Kakatiya Mega Textiles, Electronic Manufacturing Clusters and in other industry clusters are going on at a brisk pace, says Telangana FM Harish Rao.

In next five years, Telangana Government has set a target of establishing 70 new industrial parks through TSIIC. For small and medium enterprises, a Green Industrial Park has been established on 570 acres in Dandu Malkapur. 400 MSMEs have invested ₹1,200 crore. 15,000 people are employed in this park.

On Roads and Buildings, Telangana Budget says road length under the jurisdiction of the Department was only 24,245 kms in 2014. Over the 8.5 years, construction of 1,875 kms of double-lane roads has been taken up at a cost of ₹2,727 crore .Construction of 1,684 km has been completed.

Of the 717 bridges taken up for construction at a cost of ₹3,134 crore, 350 bridges have been completed. The Telangana Government has taken up the construction of integrated district offices complexes in 29 districts at a cost of ₹1,581 crore. Of these, 17 buildings inaugurated, construction of 11 office complexes is in final stage.

New Secretariat building of Telangana, a seven-storey structure with all modern facilities with a built-up area of 7 lakh square feet, will be inaugurated by CM KCR on February 17,2023. The Telangana Government has named new Secretariat building after Dr. B.R.Ambedkar

Closer to the new Secretariat building, the Telangana Government is erecting a 125 feet statue of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, at a cost of ₹147 crore. This statue of Babasaheb will stand as a symbol of pride for the entire nation. The government is determined to complete all works by this March, FM Harish Rao said.

The Martyrs Memorial constructed by Telangana Government, at a cost of ₹178 crore, is ready for inauguration.

Due to Palle Pragathi scheme, basic amenities, sanitation & greenery provided to all villages in Telangana. As compared with the progress achieved in 12,769 villages, no other State in the country comes closer to Telangana.

Five phases of Palle Pragathi programme completed. Since launch of the scheme, over ₹10,000 crore transferred to Gram Panchayats.

For the repair of old Panchayat Raj roads and for their maintenance, ₹2,000 crore proposed in the Budget. Overall, for the Panchayat Raj Department ₹31,426 crore proposed in the Budget

Out of the 22 FOBs taken up with an estimated cost of ₹76.65 crore, nine have been completed, remaining works in final stages.

On urban development, Telangana FM Harish Rao said to ease traffic congestion in Hyderabad, several SRDP projects involving flyovers, underpasses and ROBs taken up, of these, 31 works have been completed and the rest will be completed this year.

On the proposed Metro Connectivity to RGI airport, Harish Rao said number of air travellers using the international airport at Shamshabad increasing. Expansion facilities at the airport at a cost of ₹7,500 crore have been taken up to meet requirements even if the air traffic goes up to 4 crore per annum. The expansion will be completed by June.

Metro Rail connection, for which CM KCR laid the foundation, will be taken up ₹6,250 crore with own resources of the State Government, to be completed within next three years.

A solar roof cycle track taken up as a pilot project in Kokapet layout under the HMDA limits will be a trendsetter. The 23 km stretch will be developed at an estimated cost of ₹95 crore.

Continuing on urban development scheme, FM Harish Rao said the construction of 67,782 double bedroom houses completed in GHMC area. Construction of 32,218 houses is at different stages.

On healthcare and medical education, Telangana FM Harish Rao said with 19 MBBS seats/1 lakh population, State occupies first place in the country. It is 2nd with 7 Medical PG seats/1 lakh population. Number of oxygen beds in the State increased by 20 times since 2014 to 27,966.

To bring super specialty healthcare within reach of common man, Telangana Government is constructing such facilities in all four corners of Hyderabad -- Gachibowli, L.B.Nagar, Alwal and Sanathnagar. Of these, construction work of three hospitals has commenced with an expenditure of ₹2,679 crore.

With the construction of these hospitals, 4,200 additional beds will be made available. By next financial year, the works are expected to be completed and the facilities will be made available. Also, it is proposed to provide additional 2,000 beds in NIMS Health City in Warangal.

Medical Colleges in Telangana is being increased to 26 as part of a decision to have such a facility in each district of the State. It is proposed to establish nursing colleges attached to the medical colleges in each district.

In the combined State, there were only three Medical Colleges. In the combined State, there were just 3 Dialysis Centres in the entire Telangana region. Telangana

Government has extended dialysis facilities at 104 centres. On healthcare, Telangana FM, who is also the health minister, in Budget speech said in 2015-16, only 30.5% of the deliveries used to take place in government hospitals. With introduction of KCR Kit and strengthening of Maternal and Child Health Hospitals, deliveries in government hospitals have more than doubled to 61%.

Towards ensuring that pregnant women do not suffer from malnutrition, Telangana Government has started KCR Nutrition Kit Scheme. Chief Minister KCR has decided to extend the scheme to all the 33 districts from this year. Nearly 4 lakh pregnant women are likely to be benefited by this scheme every year. For this Scheme, ₹200 crore proposed in the Budget, said Harish Rao.

Speaking on the Education, FM Harish Rao announced a record ₹500 crore allocation for providing basic amenities in universities such as modernisation of hostels and construction of new buildings. First time in the history of the State such a big allocation is being made, FM Rao said.

On the Telanganaku Haritha Haram, the State Government’s scheme to increase green cover, FM Harish Rao says as per India Forest Report, 2021, prepared by the Forest Survey of India, green cover in Telangana has increased by 7.70%. This is equivalent to 5.13 lakh acres.

Telangana Government by taking up afforestation has rejunevated 13 lakh acres of forest land by incurring an expenditure of ₹1,500 crore. Fences have been erected with a length of 11,000 kms for the protection of forests.

As a result of efforts to protect forests, there has been a significant increase in number of wild animals. Number of tigers increased to 26 and the number of leopards to 341. Many species of birds on verge of extinction have regained their habitats.

Telangana Government had decided to establish District Courts in accordance with the number of districts. Following this decision, in 23 newly created districts, District Courts and Legal Services have already been established. 1,721 new posts have been sanctioned for functioning of these courts.

Telangana Government has taken a decision to establish 60 Junior, Senior and District Judge Courts in 2023-24.

Telangana Government treats all religions equally. Without discrimination to any section of the society, the benefits of government programmes are made available to all. Before State formation, previous governments were not even spending ₹300 crore per annum for the welfare of minorities. Since Telangana formation in June 2014 to January 2023, ₹8,581 crore has been spent by the government for the welfare of minorities.

For disbursement of loans by Minorities Welfare Corporation in the current and the ensuing fiscal, ₹270 crore is proposed to be spent. This is an increase of ₹239 crore from previous year’s Budget.

Telangana FM Harish Rao said public administration is not a commercial activity which looks at everything from the point of view of loss and gain. Instead of viewing welfare programmes from the point of view of loss or gain, they should be looked from humanitarian angle. He said this pointing to how a few political parties are ridiculing welfare programmes by calling them as ‘revadi’. Welfare programmes are being ridiculed as freebies. He recalled what CM apparently said in his interaction with the Finance Commission in 2019 “Hum Sarkar Chala Rahe Hai..Vyapaar Nahi”.

The Telangana Government completed its ambitious piped drinking water project Mission ‘Bhagiratha’ not only in shortest time but with utmost economy in expenditure. As against the administrative sanction of ₹44,933.66 crore actual expenditure incurred on the Mission at the closure of the project is only ₹36,900 crore, thus saving ₹8,033.66 crore: FM Rao

In Telangana, irrigation facilities are available to 73,33,000 acres. In the next 2-3 years, an additional 50,24,000 acres will be brought under irrigation, vision of CM KCR to provide irrigation to over 1 crore acres will soon become a reality, says FM Harish Rao in his 2023-24 Budget speech.

Come what may, Telangana Government determined to provide irrigation to 1.24 crore acres within a short period, treating the blessings of the people as its main support and strength. ₹26,885 crore has been proposed for the Irrigation Sector, said Mr. Rao.

Telangana government expeditiously completed pending irrigation projects of Kalvakurthy, Bhima, Nettempadu, Koil Sagar, Yellampalli, Mid Manair, Devadula... new ayacut of 20 lakh acres has been created. Green fields all over the combined Palamuru district which once was known for recurring droughts and out migration.

The fact that agriculture labour from other States are coming to the district clearly demonstrates the transformation.

Telangana government has taken up construction of 1,200 check dams involving an expenditure of Rs.3,825 cr. In the first phase, 650 check dams have been completed, construction works of remaining check dams are in progress.

Speaking on Telangana government’s ambitious irrigation project Mission Kakatiya, FM Harish Rao says the programme has became a role model for Central government’s Amrit Sarovar scheme... matter of pride to all of us that many States are renovating their tanks on the lines of Mission Kakatiya.

Telangana has become suitable for the cultivation of oil palm with the moisture content in the air increasing significantly on the back of the construction of irrigation projects, renovation of tanks and construction of check dams.

By cultivating oil palm, farmers likely to get a net income of Rs.1.5 lakh per annum/acre. Keeping this in view, State government is pursuing a target of extending oil palm cultivation to 20 lakh acres & extending incentives on a large scale to motivate farmers to take up oil palm cultivation

For subsidizing oil palm plants, fertilizers and drip irrigation, Telangana government is providing separate budgetary allocations. An amount of Rs.1,000 crore is proposed in the Budget for oil palm cultivation.

Investment support scheme Rythu Bandhu has received appreciation all over the world, has lit lamp of hope in the hearts of the farmers once trapped in debt burden forcing them to end their lives.

Telangana is the only State to provide investment support of Rs.65,000 cr to 65 lakh farmers, says Mr. Rao.

Despite cuts in resource transfers to States on account of non-fixing of meters to electric pump sets, unilateral cuts in FRBM limits and the pandemic, Telangana government made available investment support of Rs.10,000 per acre to farmers on a timely basis.

Under Rythu Bhima (insurance) scheme assistance of Rs.5,384 crore has been made available to about 1 lakh families of farmers.

While the average growth rate of gross value added by agriculture and allied sectors at constant prices in the country is 4% from 2015-16 to 2021-22, it is 7.4% in Telangana on the back of a number of schemes implemented by the State, including Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bhima, free 24-hour uninterrupted quality electricity, farm loan waiver among others, says Mr. Rao.

Highlighting significant progress achieved by Telangana, since the State formation in June 2014, FM Harish Rao said State Government succeeded in making the once crisis ridden agriculture vibrant and profitable, in instilling courage, self-confidence in farmers who were in a state of despair.

Profitable & sustainable agriculture in the State has become a torchbearer for entire country. Farmers all over the country are demanding the farmers’ welfare schemes being implemented in Telangana should be implemented in their States, he said.

In his budget speech, Mr. Rao added that with the transformation in agriculture entirely conceived, conceptualized and implemented by Chief Minister, KCR is treated with great respect as a protector of farmers interests.

Telangana FM Harish Rao also hit out at Centre for not keeping promises made under the A.P. Reorganization Act, including establishment of a Rail Coach Factory in Kazipet; Bayyaram Steel Plant; Girijan University. These mandates have not been fulfilled even after 8.5 years. In addition, the ITIR sanctioned to Telangana has been shelved, he said.

While Telangana has been achieving significant development through its own efforts, the Centre has been creating hurdles after hurdles, FM Harish Rao says citing how to complete irrigation projects within the shortest time, State government resorted to off-budget borrowings. The borrowings, however, are well within the limits of FRBM Act, Mr. Rao said.

In current year, based on State’s economic performance & borrowing limits, ₹53,970 crore was included in the Budget as borrowings. But Centre unilaterally imposed a cut of ₹15,033 crore and reduced Telangana’s borrowing limits to ₹38,937 crore -- totally unjustified and uncalled for, he said.

These kind of cuts are against spirit of federalism and have eroded the rights of the States, FM Harish Rao said accusing the NDA Government at the Centre of also breaking the tradition of implementing in toto the recommendations of the Finance Commission.

For 2021-26, the 15th Finance Commission recommended grants amounting to ₹5,374 crore to Telangana. But by denying these grants, grave injustice has been done to Telangana. No government has ignored the recommendations of the Finance Commission in such a blatant manner, Telangana FM lashed out at the Centre.

The Central Government has not released even one paise towards Mission Bhagiratha and Mission Kakatiya despite the NITI Aayog has recommended a grant of ₹19,205 crore and ₹5,000 crore respectively for the major projects initiated by the Telangana Government, Mr. Rao said.

Telangana Finance Minister Rao says the State under CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s leadership has achieved significant development within a short period of 8.5 years, emerged role model for the entire country.

Telangana has been successful in withstanding adverse impact of the pandemic, emerged as a strong economic power. State Government able to efficiently manage its economy, implement welfare programmes on a large scale even during the crisis period.

Telangana Finance Minister Harish Rao on Monday announced ₹12,161 crore for Medical and Health Department in Budget.

An amount of ₹17,700 crore is proposed for Dalit Bandhu scheme. An amount of ₹36,750 crore is proposed as Special Development Fund for Scheduled Castes in Budget, he announced.