Telangana Congress Makes Raft Of Big Promises

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President N Uttam Kumar Reddy asked the people to question the TRS government over its failure to fulfill the promises it had made them in the 2014 elections.

Addressing a massive rally in Chintriyal village of Malareddy Gudem in his Huzurnagar constituency on Wednesday, Reddy exhorted the people to grill the TRS leaders over their failure to deliver double bedrooms for the poor, three acres of land for each dalit family, 12% reservation for Muslims and STs, and KG to PG free education.

He alleged that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had cheated the people, and that no section of the society was happy with the performance of the TRS government. The government had failed on all fronts and all sections, especially the SCs, STs, BCs, Muslims, farmers, women, students and youth, who were all now waiting for the elections to end the TRS "misrule" in Telangana.

Reddy said that the Congress was fully prepared to face the next elections, and that it had total clarity on what needed to be done for the different sections of the society immediately upon coming to power. He said that "the next Congress government" would waive off crop loans upto Rs 2 lakhs, and offer a minimum guaranteed price for all crops including Rs 2,000 for paddy, Rs 6,000 for cotton and Rs 10,000 per quintal for chilli. The premium for crop insurance would also be paid by the state government, he said.

The TPCC chief also said that employment opportunities would be created for lakhs of youth in both the government and the private sectors, and that jobless youth would be paid a monthly allowance of Rs 3,000.

He said that women's welfare had remained neglected under the TRS regime, and that the next Congress government would accord top priority to the empowerment and growth of women. In addition to the existing pensions, each member of all SHGs would be given a monthly pension of Rs. 1,000 under the Abhya Hastham Scheme, he promised.

Reddy also announced that dues amounting to Rs. 2,000 crores pending from the government towards interest subsidy for bank loans taken by women SHGs would be cleared. He said that each SHG would be permitted to get a bank loan of Rs. 10 lakhs, for which the interest would be paid by the government. He said that the initiative would help about 70 lakh women including 52 lakh women associated with the nearly 4.5 lakh SHGs in rural areas and the 15 lakh women members of 1.5 lakh SHGs in the urban areas.

He also promised that the services of nearly 4,200 staff working for the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERF) on contract would be regularized, and that the salaries of about 15,600 Village Organisation Assistants (VOAs) would be increased from the present Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 10,000.

Recalling his association with Chintriyal, Reddy said that the people of the village had supported him ever since he had entered politics in 1994, which had played a key role in all his electoral victories. He thanked them for their support.

As the PCC president, he said that he would be covering about 10,000 villages in Telangana in the election campaign.

During his visit, Reddy also inaugurated several developmental programs. He also felicitated senior journalist K Nageshwara Rao for getting a prestigious award.