I-Day: KCR Hoists National Flag At Golconda Fort

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao hoisted the Indian national flag at the Golconda fort on the occasion of India's 70th Independence Day celebrations today.

In an address to the people of Telangana after that, Rao greeted those gathered, and spoke to them about the State's achievements so far, and its future.

"Our young State is ascending steadily. We have achieved several important milestones in terms of development and social welfare. If we continue this, the State will eventually become more stable in terms of growth and governance. The goal is to make Telangana the most developed State in the nation," he said.

He also said that in order to maintain and accelerate Telangana's growth, the government had launched several flagship programs in the past few months. Many of these were now being emulated by other States, and had drawn praise from the Central government, too, so much that PM Modi himself had come to inaugurate one of them earlier this month, he said.

"It is a matter of pride that Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited our State and launched several projects including the flagship Mission Bhagiratha, a thermal power plant, the revival of a fertiliser plant, a textile park and others," Rao said.

The government was on a fast track to complete Mission Bhagiratha, Mission Kakatiya, the Haritha Haram plantation drive and other flagship programs core to Telangana's progress. In addition, the State government was now taking up even more development projects worth a whopping Rs. 36,000 crores, Rao claimed.

He also announced that the State would receive 1,000 MW of power from Chattisgarh in approximately four months.

Moving on to a pet theme, irrigation, KCR slammed the previous regimes for not inking the Godavari pact with Maharashtra and for creating decades of discord with it over this issue, and spoke of how his government's emphasis on maintaining cordial relationships with its neighbouring States was paying off. "We have convinced both Karnataka and Maharashtra to address problems pertaining to shared irrigation projects. If all goes well, the Medigadda barrage under the Godavari pact will be completed as per schedule," he said.

He also said that about six lakh acres of land would be irrigated with the completion of the Bheema, Nettempadu, Kalwakurthy and Koilsagar reservoir projects in the Mahabubnagar district.

To help them make the best of the better irrigation and to enable a better livelihood for them, the Chief Minister also announced 100% subsidy for small and marginal farmers. He promised that the State government was committed to the upliftment of farmers and that it was about to launch several welfare measures for them.

Speaking on minorities' welfare, the CM said that the Kalyana Lakshmi marriage scheme would be extended to the BC community. Allocation of Rs. 100 crores for weaker sections within the Brahmin community would be proposed in the State budget. And the 12% reservation bill for the Muslim and ST communities would be passed in the Assembly soon, he said.

KCR then went on to list various upcoming programs and schemes in key sectors such as irrigation, health, education, and law and order. The government would prioritize both the health and education sectors by launching 40 dialysis and diagnostics centres, and 230 residential schools as part of the "KG-to-PG" program this year, he claimed.

He promised that the carving of new districts in the State would be complete by mid-October this year in order to decentralize governance.

In view of the threats to internal security and the recent capture of ISIS operatives in Hyderabad, KCR vowed to root out terrorism and militancy, and all other kinds of anti-social activities and ideologies, from Telangana, in coordination with national and state-level security agencies. Rao praised the Telangana police for their efforts in keeping the State peaceful despite all the security threats, and for receiving the highest number of gallantry medals.