As Telangana turns nine this year, the state government has decided to use this occasion to advertise its schemes, flaunt its progress and leave an impression on the mind of every voter ahead of assembly elections.
June 2 is Telangana Formation Day and the events will end on June 22.
TIGHT SCHEDULE
From June 2 to 22, each day has been earmarked to showcase achievements in various fields.
On June 2, the CM will pay homage to Telangana martyrs at Gun Park. June 3 has been dedicated to farmers. The programmes will highlight the achievements of the state’s agriculture sector, free power, Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima and other schemes. June 4, earmarked as Safety Day, will see the police department showcasing their style of policing. The State Police department will organise programmes to explain the efforts of the police to maintain law and order in the state.
On June 5, through ‘Telangana Vidyuttu Vijayotsavam’, the state will talk about the strides it made in the energy sector. In the Budget session of the Assembly this year, the government had said that Telangana experienced an increase in the per capita availability of power 1.7 times between 2014-15 and 2021-22. “The state has the fifth-highest per capita availability of power in the country amongst the 18 non-special category states, at 2,005 kWh as of 2021-22. This is nearly 1.8 times the all-India value of 1,115.3 kWh,” finance minister Harish Rao had said. Singareni celebrations will also be held on the same day.
THE SCHEMES
Similarly, on June 9, with the ‘Telangana Sankshema Sambaralu’’ (Celebration of Welfare programmes), the government will highlight schemes such as Asara Pensions and Kalyana Lakshmi.
‘Aasara’ Pension scheme was launched in 2014 as a social safety net for several sections of society, including the elderly and infirm, disabled individuals, widows, people with HIV/AIDS, Filaria patients (Grade-II and III), incapacitated weavers, toddy tappers, poor Beedi workers, single women, and dialysis patients. Around Rs 7,565 crore was disbursed to 44.43 lakh pensioners in 2022-23.
‘Kalyana Lakshmi/Shaadi Mubarak’ scheme is a one-time grant of Rs 1,00,116 is provided to unmarried girls (above 18 years) from SC, ST, BC and Minority families (with a combined income of both parents not exceeding Rs.2,00,000 per annum) at the time of their marriage.
One of the strategies of KCR in national landscape has been to bring ‘Telangana model’ everywhere. In every other state, be it Karnataka or Maharashtra, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has made all-out efforts to woo voters with their schemes, especially the ones related to farmers.
In the run-up to the Assembly polls, the State Formation Day has been recognised as a grand opportunity for Telangana to show its progress report. The CM has held several meetings with collectors and released Rs 105 crore to meet the expenses.
FACING FLAK
The expenditure has met with harsh criticism from Opposition parties. State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Bandi Sanjay Kumar found it ironical that a state that does not have to money to pay salaries to employees is spending so much on decennial celebrations.
Meanwhile, the Congress is holding a 20-day celebration of its own. The Grand Old Party has always maintained that Telangana came into existence due to the efforts of Sonia Gandhi and it wants to drive home this message.
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