Congress Promises Progressive And Vibrant Telangana

The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) on Saturday released its manifesto for the ensuing elections, promising a vibrant and progressive Telangana.

The manifesto is aimed at "Inclusive Development, focusing on Equity and Accountability" (IDEA), TPCC President Ponnala Lakshmaiah said while releasing the 46-page document at Gandhi Bhavan.

The Telangana Congress tried to capitalise on the T-sentiment by starting its long list of promises with those to Telangana martyrs, following it up with those for the employees who participated in the statehood agitation.

"We would like to recognise and remember the sacrifices made by the people of Telangana in the 1969 struggle and also in the movement for the separate State of Telangana in recent years," it said.

As part of that, it promised to build a Telangana Martyrs Memorial Park in 5 acres. The dependents of the martyrs have been promised ex-gratia, jobs and house sites. A Prof. Jayashankar Memorial Trust would also be formed with a Rs. 100 crore corpus fund.

The Congress has also promised to pay the entire salaries for the strike period of the employees ("Sakala Janula Samme"), and treat the period of strike as a working period for all practical purposes.

"A special Telangana increment will also be given to all the employees with effect from the day of formation of the Telangana State," the manifesto said.

The Congress has also promised to increase the retirement age to 60 years.

The other major promises include payment of Rs. 1 lakh to each SHG Group for income-generating activities; 1 lakh government jobs in one year; assistance to create over 1 lakh jobs in each district through the private jobs / self-employment route; Rs. 1 lakh to each farmer for agricultural input; 250 sq yards to the rural homeless; reservation to SC/STs in proportion to their population; reservation to SC/ST entrepreneurs in civil contracts and other goods and services; four industrial growth corridors; BC and Minorities Sub-Plan; ban on contract employment in regular posts; relaxation for government jobs up to 40 years for 3 years; promotion and safety of Brand Hyderabad and city to be developed as Olympic Games post; MMTS services to all district head-quarters, and creation of 8 to 10 new districts.

The Congress has also promised setting up of power plants; improvement in educational facilities; centres of excellence for SCs, STs, BCs and Minorities at Hyderabad; and Paramedical Training / Polytechnic / ITI in each Revenue division.

Union Minister Jairam Ramesh; former ministers K Jana Reddy, Mohammad Ali Shabbir and D Sridhar Babu; Deputy Speaker Mallu Bhatti Vikarmarka, MLC P Sudhakar Reddy and other senior leaders were also present. (INN)