Telangana Assembly Passes 12 Resolutions On Last Day

The first session of the Telangana State Legislative Assembly concluded on Saturday with the passing of 12 different resolutions, moved by the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

While the first 2 resolutions paying tributes to the Telangana martyrs and those killed in Beas River tragedy were presented and unanimously passed in the morning session, 10 other resolutions were passed in the concluding session.

The House passed a resolution seeking special category status for 9 out of 10 districts of Telangana. The Chief Minister contended that nearly 85% of the SC, ST, BC and minority communities living in all the districts of Telangana other than Hyderabad were backward, and therefore requested the Centre to grant special status to each of these 9 districts.

The Telangana Assembly also passed a unanimous resolution asking the Centre to withdraw the ordinance issued on the Polavaram Project facilitating the merger of 7 mandals into Andhra Pradesh. It also demanded a change in the design of the Polavaram Project.

In another resolution, the Telangana Assembly sought Income Tax exemption for Singareni Collieries Company Limited. The Chief Minister said that the SCCL provided employment to nearly 62,000 people and catered to about 500 different companies in states including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra among others. Therefore, it should be given tax exemptions.

The Telangana Assembly also demanded that the Centre create a separate High Court for Telangana State. It also passed a resolution asking the Centre to implement 33% reservation for women, by increase of seats in legislative bodies and other institutions, if required.

The Assembly also asked the Centre to create a separate ministry for the welfare of Backward Classes.

The Chief Minister also requested the Centre to provide 33% reservation to the OBCs who constituted nearly 50% of the total population.

Through a separate resolution, he requested Speaker Madhusudhana Chary to take suitable action against a private television news channel for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Telangana legislators in one of its broadcasts.

KCR also announced a reward of Rs 25 lakhs each to Malavath Purna and Sadhanapalli Anand Kumar, the two youngsters who scaled Mount Everest. Further, he said that 3 acres of developed land would be given to each of the youngsters, and a house would also be provided to each of them.

He also announced a reward of Rs 25 lakhs to their coach Sekhar Babu.

KCR finally stated that the Secretary of the Telangana Legislative Assembly would be given the status of Chief Secretary, on par with the Parliament Secretary who enjoys the rank of Cabinet Secretary. (INN)