Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Friday expressed confidence that Hyderabad would soon emerge as a "global city".
Speaking after launching the second phase of the Driver-cum-Owner scheme of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) at Necklace Road, the Chief Minister accused the previous regimes of ignoring the development of Hyderabad.
He said that the city was left to the mercy of the land mafia and encroachers, and that focused development would have turned Hyderabad into an international city.
The Chief Minister also assured that the State Government would take all possible measures to eradicate unemployment from the State by initiating different schemes. He informed that a Skill Development University was being set up in the State to help the youth.
KCR also informed that Hyderabad would be hosting an international conference on Information Technology in 2018.
Appreciating the GHMC for handing over 406 cars to unemployed youngsters as part of the Driver-cum-Owner scheme, the Chief Minister directed GHMC Special Officer Somesh Kumar to extend the scheme to 600 more beneficiaries.
Addressing the gathering, Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said that the Centre was keen on establishing a Skill Development University in Hyderabad, and urged the Chief Minister to allocate land for the proposed university.
The GHMC Special Officer informed that the corporation has spent about Rs 21 crores on the Driver-cum-Owner scheme, including a subsidy of Rs 3 crores provided by the State Government. While 105 cars were given in the first phase, there were 303 beneficiaries in the second phase. He said that all beneficiaries had also been provided a health insurance cover of Rs 50,000 each.
Later, the Chief Minister handed over the cars' keys to the beneficiaries.
Deputy Chief Ministers Mahmood Ali and Dr T Rajaiah; ministers Nayani Narasimha Reddy, T Padma Rao, P Mahender Reddy and Talasani Srinivas Yadav; TRS MP Konda Vishveswar Reddy; and MLAs, MLCs and other officials were also present on the occasion. (INN)