Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday kickstarted “Abhaya Hastam”, a programme to implement the six guarantees as promised by the Congress before the elections, and said his government was committed to implementing all the promises within 100 days.
As part of the programme, the state government will take up a week-long exercise – “Praja Palana” (People’s governance) – starting Thursday (December 28). The programme, aimed at receiving applications from the eligible beneficiaries of various schemes promised under Abhaya Hastam, will conclude on January 6.
The chief minister along with deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and other senior cabinet colleagues and officials launched the format of the “Praja Palana” applications, the programme logo and other materials at the Secretariat on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters, Revanth Reddy said the entire exercise of the Praja Palana was to take the government to the door steps of the people. “Instead of people going to the government to represent their grievances, the government itself will go to the people to find out their needs and resolve their issues,” he said.
He said the programme would be held in all the villages and wards across the state to receive grievances and applications from the people. “There would be counters in all the villages to collect applications. Separate counters would be set up for women,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}He said the programme would be held in all the villages and wards across the state to receive grievances and applications from the people. “There would be counters in all the villages to collect applications. Separate counters would be set up for women,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}The chief minister said every mandal (revenue block) would be divided into two parts, one headed by a mandal revenue officer (MRO) and the other by a mandal parishad development officer (MPDO). “Each officer would visit two villages in one day. In villages where there are more people, more counters will be opened. Those who can’t apply at grama sabha can apply at gram panchayats also. This will be a continuous process and won’t stop on January 6,” he said.
There would be separate counters for the people submitting grievances, apart from the applications for the government schemes. “While the schemes are meant for those having ration cards, those without ration cards can also apply for the six guarantees and they could apply for new ration cards at the separate counters provided by the government,” he said.
He said the entire exercise was to know about the exact number of beneficiaries to be covered under various schemes, so that the schemes would not be misused.
Commenting on the ongoing Praja Vani programme being held every Tuesday and Friday at the Jyotiba Phule Praja Bhavan, he said so far over 24,000 applications had been received and they were being directed to the department concerned.
“The government has already laid down a process of digitalising the grievances received at the Praja Bhavan by giving them a docket number and sending received messages to the applicant. A tracking system was put in place as we need to know where the application reached and what was the action taken,” the chief minister said.
Once the government receives the applications, it would have 100 days to fulfil the aspirations of the people, he said.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi lawmaker and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter Kalvakuntla Kavitha said the entire exercise of the Congress government was creating more confusion. “The number of beneficiaries for various schemes have already been identified and were getting benefits during the BRS government. Whatever the new government promised, they can be straightaway extended to them,” she said.
For example, already 4.4 milion senior citizens were getting old-age pensions to the extent of ₹3,000 per month. “Under the six guarantees’ programme, the Congress promised to enhance the pension to ₹4,000 per month. The existing beneficiaries can be straightaway given the enhanced pensions from January 1. Why calling for fresh applications again?” Kavitha asked.
Similarly, the number of domestic power consumers is already available with the government and they can be straightaway given free power supply up to 200 units, the BRS leader said.