KCR Cabinet flays AP for filing irrigation project complaints with Centre

The Telangana Cabinet on Friday took a decision to give guarantee through the State Industrial Investment corporation (TSIIC) to obtain loans of Rs 784 crore from HUDCO to set up a National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) in Medak and Pharma NIMZ in Hyderabad. This is one of several decisions taken by the Cabinet. It decided to ink a deal with the Maharashtra government for expediting the Telangana projects across the river Godavari. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who chaired the meeting and discussed various issues for 2 hours, expressed displeasure at the objections being raised by the Andhra Pradesh Government on the irrigation projects and asked the officials concerned to speed up their redesigning. The Cabinet, which took serious exception to AP writing letters to the Centre, decided to send a team headed by the Chief Minister to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi or to press in a team led by Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao to Delhi to apprise the Centre on the issue. The cabinet gave nod for project designing in 19 packages for Pranahita-Chevella, Devadula, Kantanapally, Sitarama, Bhakta Ramadasu, Rajiv Sagar, Indira Sagar and SRSP flood canal. Besides, giving its nod for redesigning of the irrigation projects and to obtain Rs 1,000-crore loan from NABARD to encourage micro irrigation. Warangal got top priority as the Cabinet decided to set up Agriculture College in the district and Veterinary College in Mamunur and establish Fisheries Science College in the State, besides taking up fish farming in a big way in lakes and water bodies across the districts. This is deriving benefits from flagship project of Mission Kakatiya which is huge a success. It also asked the officials to prepare list of vacant posts of teachers, engineers and a plan to provide jobs to qualified persons. The Cabinet further decided to offer salaries to Archakas (temple priests) through treasury and set up a Cabinet sub-committee to be chaired by Endowments Minister A Indrakaran Reddy and other ministers, including Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Nayani Narsimha Reddy, Jupally Krishna Rao and Tummala Nageshwar Rao as members. The committee will submit a report to the State government by studying the irregularities related to endowment lands, Hundi collections and other issues to restore past glory to the temples. As per the Cabinet decision, the number of trust members will be increased based on income of the endowment and related establishments. Consequently, those with Rs 1 crore income and with Rs 25 lakh to Rs 1 crore would get trust members increased to 14 from 9, those with income less than Rs 25 lakh will get seven members from five and the endowment institutions with income less than Rs 2 lakh will get five trust members from three. Other key decisions of Cabinet are to ask revenue department to prepare a policy to check the irregularities of assigned and other lands, vacant lands.