Hyderabad: Deputy chief minister Bhatti Vikramarka on Tuesday said the Congress govt has paid ₹2.08 lakh crore in principal and interest to banks in just two and a half years for a debt of ₹8.21 lakh crore left behind by the previous BRS regime.Addressing a public meeting at Julekal village in the Alampur constituency in Jogulamba Gadwal district, he said when Telangana was formed on June 2, 2014, it was financially strong with a surplus budget. “But due to a decade of misgovernance, corruption, and poor decisions by the previous BRS govt, Telangana has been reduced to a debt-ridden state,” Bhatti alleged.Despite the debt burden, the Congress govt has continued existing schemes like Shaadi Mubarak and Kalyana Lakshmi, while also introducing several other welfare programmes like free travel to women in RTC buses, 200 units of free electricity, gas cylinders being given at ₹500, fine rice distribution, to name a few, he said.“The state govt has paid ₹12,000 crore to RTC towards free bus travel for women,” he said and announced that the ₹5 lakh Indiramma insurance scheme would be launched in Nov on the occasion of Indira Gandhi’s birth anniversary.The deputy CM reiterated that the govt was committed to preventing migration from Palamuru and ensuring irrigation for backward regions. He stated that pending works from Narlapur to Uddandapur under the Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigation scheme have been accelerated and all land acquisition funds have been cleared.He announced that the District Collector would be instructed to complete land acquisition of 573 acres on a war footing for the Mallammakunta reservoir under the Tummilla project (RDS limits). This project is expected to provide irrigation water to nearly 87,500 acres. “No farmer will be treated unfairly,” he said, assuring fair compensation to all.Responding positively to public demand, he assured that steps would be taken to establish a separate junior college for girls in the area.
