Telangana government to make internet a basic right: Guv
The Telangana government plans to introduce internet as a basic right for its citizens and make it accessible and affordable to all sections of society. The government also aims to position Hyderabad and Telangana as the AI capital of the country and implement various welfare guarantees for the people. Additionally, the government plans to convert government ITIs into Advanced Technology Centres and promote green energy with a comprehensive Energy Policy. A caste census will also be conducted to gather data on social, educational, economic, employment, and political opportunities for various castes.
Telangana government will soon introduce the internet as a basic right for the people of the state and make it accessible and affordable to all sections of the society, state governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said on Thursday.
Addressing the joint session of the state legislative assembly and legislative council on the commencement of the budget session, the government said “digital adoption” is happening at a rapid pace across the country today and Telangana not only needs to fully benefit from digital opportunities but also become a leader in the country for new technologies.
“One of the most significant forthcoming initiatives of the government would be to introduce the internet as a basic right. The focus will be not just to create digital infrastructure but also to make it accessible and affordable to all sections of society,” she said.
She said the government will implement a very thorough digital literacy programme to ensure that every household, regardless of its economic status or location, will be able to benefit from the rapid digital adoption of increasing opportunities. Tamilisai also said the state government was determined to harness the power of new technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI).
“We will position Hyderabad and Telangana as the AI capital of the country by inviting the top global and national technology companies to set up their AI centres. We will set up a dedicated AI City in 50-100 acres,” she said.
The governor said the state government was committed to implementing the six guarantees for the welfare and development of the people in a time-bound manner, of which two guarantees had already been implemented. “The government will implement two more guarantees – supply of LPG cylinders to eligible families for ₹500 and supply of 200 units of free domestic power to every eligible household,” she said.
She said the government’s vision encompassed various sectors, from irrigation projects like Palamuru Rangareddy to education, with the filling up of about 2 lakh jobs by our newly constituted TSPSC. The government is actively addressing land-related issues through the newly formed Dharani committee, she said.
Stating that the immediate challenge before the government was to “improve the state’s financial situation without burdening the people”, Tamilisai said the present budget will provide an opportunity to start the path of restoration, responsibility, and accountability in the management of public finance.
Stating that the government will continue to support sectors like IT and Pharma, the governor said the state will set up 10-12 pharma village clusters of extents between 1000 and 3000 acres, which would be away from habitations and also self-contained with facilities for effluent treatment, testing labs, logistics infrastructure, and social infrastructure for housing, education and healthcare.
Stating that all government ITIs in the state would be converted into Advanced Technology Centres with an estimated project cost of about ₹2000 crore, she said these centres will offer long-term and short-term courses in high demand trades and benefit nearly one lakh youth in the state.
The Telangana government will also come up with a comprehensive “Energy Policy” to promote all types of green energy, namely, solar, wind, hybrid, as well as storage energy to meet peak requirements. “The government aims to improve the share of green energy significantly and reduce carbon emissions by 2030,” she said.
Reiterating the government’s recent announcement of a caste census, the governor said a door-to-door household survey will be done with the goal of eliciting the data required to estimate the social, educational, economic, employment and political opportunities for various castes in general and BCs in particular.
