KCR also said the state would soon achieve the target of 25,000 MW installed power capacity against the existing capacity of 18,756 MW.
Published Aug 06, 2023 | 9:34 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 06, 2023 | 9:35 PM
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. (Twitter)
It is now the turn of the Telangana government employees to walk on cloud nine, with Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Sunday, 6 August, announcing that he would revise their pay scales so much that it would come as a surprise to the entire nation.
The chief minister, speaking in the state Assembly on the Telangana state’s formation and the progress achieved thus far, said Telangana employees were getting the highest pay in the country.
“During the turbulent days of the Telangana movement, I had promised Telangana employees that I would ensure that their salaries would be more than those of the Central government, and we have kept our word. We look for the human angle in whatever we do,” he said.
The chief minister harkened back to when the BRS government hiked the salaries of the employees and the outsourced employees by 30 percent under the last Pay Revision Commission (PRC).
“We will constitute another PRC very soon. Our employees are working hard. The water in our irrigation projects reflects the skill of the engineers. The thick growth of the forest is proof of the forest officers’ dedication to duty. The agriculture department officials are ensuring that Telangana has become a granary as the state was now producing crores of tonnes of paddy,” the chief minister said.
He said the employees were like the children of the state government.
“They also should lead a comfortable life. We will give them IR (interim relief) very soon and constitute the PRC and further increase their salaries. Depending on the recommendations of the PRC, we will raise their salaries. Let them earn money for the government and take away their share. Our policy is to feed the employees as well as the poor to their fill,” he said.
He said the income of the state government had grown phenomenally with the transport, commercial taxes, and registration officials earning crores of rupees for the state exchequer.
“Already we have raised their pay by 70 percent and we will raise it further,” he said.
He said that he was not in the habit of making promises that could not be implemented like the Congress. In Karnataka, the Congress promised the moon and now they do not know how to mobilise resources to implement the promises, he said.
“You should make promises that you would be able to keep. How much is the Congress giving as old age pensions in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan? Then, how could they say they would pay ₹4,000 to each senior citizen?” he asked, referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s promise at Khammam public meeting on 2 July.
The chief minister said that the people would not trust if lofty promises were made, which are unrealistic.
“We will surely increase the pension but we will do it by degrees. We have several welfare schemes lined up. They are like the weapons in our armoury. We are responsible for raising the income of the state. We are implementing welfare schemes. Under each scheme, we are increasing the amount payable to the beneficiaries over a period of time,” he said.
The chief minister exuded confidence that the BRS would win the next Assembly elections hands down.
“We will come back to power with seven-eight seats more than what we got in the last elections. No one needs to doubt it,” he said.
Taking the Congress to task, he said it was during the Congress’ rule that the state suffered on all fronts, adding that after the BRS took over, there had been growth in all sectors.
He said one of the achievements of the BRS is making the state fluorosis-free. “It became possible because of our efforts,” he added.
Narrating the growth of power capacity in Telangana during the BRS rule, he said the state would soon achieve the target of 25,000 MW installed power capacity against the existing capacity of 18,756 MW.
He said it was the Congress which had sold away a 49 percent stake in the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) to the Centre to settle the loans it had raised from it.
“The SCCL was a 100 percent Telangana company. But the Congress rulers in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh are responsible for the shrinking of Telangana stake to 51 percent from 100 percent, ” he said.
He said when the Congress was in power, the turnover of the SCCL was only ₹419 crore but shot up to ₹2,222 crore.
“The BRS government is paying ₹1,000 crore to the employees of the SSCL as a bonus. When the Congress was in power it was only ₹83 crore,” he said.
He said even when Chandrababu Naidu was the chief minister of the state, the Congress could not confront him effectively on the lapses.
It remained a spectator, he said, when the police opened fire and killed three farmers when the TDP regime increased the power tariff in the guise of reforms.
