Hyderabad: Telangana people gave a clear verdict in the recently concluded polls “to liberate themselves from the ten years of repression”, Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said Friday.
“Their (voters) message is clear and loud. I appreciate the collective wisdom of the people. Telangana is breathing fresh air of freedom and liberty now. Telangana is liberated from autocratic rule and dictatorial tendencies. The people’s verdict unequivocally stated that it would not tolerate any repression,” the governor said in her address to the MLAs and MLCs at the joint session of the Telangana legislature.
Led by Revanth Reddy, the Congress stormed to power on 3 December after it replaced the two-term Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government of K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR).
“(The election) verdict became a cornerstone for civil rights and democratic rule. The iron barricades that divided rulers from the people have been dismantled. I feel proud to say that the glass houses and obstacles have been removed and the true people’s governance has begun,” Soundararajan said in what is seen as reference to the iron gates, barricades around the Pragathi Bhavan which were torn down after Revanth Reddy took over as the CM last week.
The speech copy is drafted by the state government which the governor reads out in the House, as per the tradition.
Incidentally, the new chief minister had also taken a similar line in his first speech as the chief minister. “The barricades that distanced the Telangana society and people from the government are being demolished now and the gates are open for the people to come with their grievances,” he had said at the L.B. stadium.
In the last few years of KCR’s rule, ties with the Raj Bhavan went south as Soundararajan was in disagreement with several of the BRS government’s proposals.
There were several episodes of frictions such as the rejection of names forwarded by KCR for MLCs under Governor quota and bills withheld seeking clarifications. BRS leaders had accused the governor of “operating like a BJP agent/leader.”
Soundararajan described the new Telangana cabinet “a judicious combination of experience and the new, led by a young leader.”
“Our government is taking steps to give freedom, liberty, equal opportunities, and social justice to people along with making governance within the reach of each and every citizen,” she said.
“The CM made it abundantly clear that in a democracy, the rulers are the people’s servants, and they are not feudal lords,” the governor said, referring to Praja Vaani, a public grievance redressal programme reinstated by CM Revanth.
Throughout his poll campaign this year and earlier, Revanth had accused KCR of functioning like a ‘dora’ (feudal lord).
The Governor mentioned the statehood struggle and the UPA government creating Telangana state in 2014. “On behalf of four crore Telangana people, the present (state) government thanks Sonia Gandhi, the then UPA chairperson, for the key role she played in the process of creating Telangana,” she said.
Stating that the new government will stand by each and every promise made to the people, the governor asserted that CM Revanth Reddy “signed the file giving legal sanctity to the six (Congress’s poll time) guarantees soon after his swearing in.”
“Within 48 hours of entering into governance, my government has implemented two out of six guarantees. This stands as proof of its commitment,” Soundararajan said, referring to the launch of free travel for women in state-run buses and hiking the Rajiv Arogyasri health insurance coverage for the poor to Rs 10 lakh.
‘Bad governance — financial mess’
The governor remarked that owing to the previous regime’s bad governance, the power utilities are in a deep financial crisis with a staggering debt of Rs 81,516 crore.” “They have incurred losses of Rs 50,275 crore.”
Similarly, the Civil Supplies Corporation has Rs 56,000 crore as debt and Rs 11,000 crore as losses. “Each and every department had incurred huge debts. Loans raised indiscriminately from every corporation have pushed the state into a financial mess and crisis. The entire fiscal discipline is destroyed. There was no financial prudency.”
Soundararajan said that her government now “is focused on strengthening the derailed financial situation.”
“We will place before the people the financial condition of each and every department by releasing white papers to show real facts.”
The present administration is committed to decentralising development in Telangana and is “planning to divide the state into three zones with Hyderabad as the centre, she said.
One zone will be Hyderabad city, falling inside the Outer Ring Road, the second zone the area between the ORR and the proposed Regional Ring Road, and the third will be all that is exterior to the RRR.
As for the promise of inquiry into Kaleshwaram irregularities, corruption, quality issues in construction of Medigadda and Annaram Barrages, the governor said an action plan will be set in.
Soundararajan said an exercise has been initiated to cleanse the Telangana State Public Service Commission and that steps will be taken to fill up two lakh government job vacancies within one year.
Bhumata Portal, “which will be transparent and solve all land-related issues”, will be introduced in place of the controversial Dharani brought in by KCR.
A land commission to protect government lands and stringent measures to eradicate the use of banned drugs and narcotics are the other assurances the governor made to the public on behalf of the Revanth Reddy-led Congress government.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: How Congress ended KCR’s rule in Telangana. ‘Congress became BJP, and BJP became Congress’