Telangana is born, KCR vows policy push

Vows to provide transperent and corruption free administration

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) was on Monday sworn-in as the first chief minister of the new state of Telangana.

Rao constituted his Cabinet with 11 members — five slots short of the upper limit — who were also administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor E S L Narasimhan at a simple ceremony in the Raj Bhavan at 8.15 am. KCR’s son K T Rama Rao and Harish Rao are members of the cabinet.

Telangana is the 29th state of the country. The state, especially capital Hyderabad, witnessed festivities, as people came out in large numbers to celebrate the formation of the new state. People had gathered at the historic Hussain Sagar lake to witness the grand firecracker show on Sunday night, while several impromptu rallies were taken out even past mid-night.

Addressing people after the swearing-in ceremony, KCR promised to provide a transparent and corruption-free government and also stressed that he would not tolerate political corruption at any level.

“Transparency in governance is a necessity to effectively work towards meeting the aspirations of the people of Telangana. I will not only ensure transparency in governance process but will also ensure no misuse of public funds,” he said.

KCR vowed to make Telangana a power surplus state in the next three years. Terming industrial development as a key to development and creation of jobs,  he promised to bring in the best industrial policy in the country.

“Just to show my commitment in this regard, a system of single-window clearance put in place and would be directly attached to the chief minister’s office for close monitoring,” KCR said. He also promised to protect and enhance the brand image of Hyderabad city as a peaceful and investment-friendly destination.

KCR said he would implement all the election promises, including the Central pay scales along with a special increment to government employees, waiving of farm loans up to Rs 1 lakh, two-bedroom house at government expenditure to each household of people from weaker sections, Rs 1,000 per month to old people and widows and Rs 1,500 per month to physically-challenged persons among other things.

The government would revive agriculture to transform Telangana as the seed bowl of the country and also bring one lakh acres in each Assembly constituency under canal irrigation, he said.

KCR chaired an informal cabinet meeting after swearing-in. The meeting has decided to hold a week-long session of the Assembly, starting June 9 to discuss the government’s priorities, T Rajaiah, who is tipped to be one of the deputy chief ministers, told reporters.