New Delhi: In a bizarre move, the Telangana chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday announced that each family of his native village Chintamadaka will receive Rs 10 lakh worth benefits for “income-generating activities”. There are about 2,000 families in the village and though there has not been any official announcement to provide the benefits, the chief minister announced the decision in a public meeting he held in the village.
The benefits will be provided to all the families in the Chintamadala, and neighbouring Machapur and Seetarampalli villages, and if executed, will cost about Rs 200 crore. Though no government order or scheme document has been issued, Rao said, “I am granting it right away, and the GO will be issued tomorrow. This 10 lakh would be given to all, irrespective of caste and religion. I know that everyone here is in debt, there is no upper caste who is well-off here.”
The chief minister proclaimed the announcement as a “sign of his love” to the people of the village.
According to The News Minute, KCR said the benefits would come without any conditions apart from the money being spent on income-generating sources. It can be spent on multiple sources. “The villagers can set up a poultry farm, the same person can set up a dairy farm. They could buy a tractor, paddy harvesting machines, set up small industries or buy auto rickshaws – there won’t be any objection,” he is quoted as having said by the website.
Political parties were quick to criticise the move, with the BJP’s P. Muralidhar Rao hitting out at KCR for “acting like a sarpanch”. The saffron party’s national general secretary told ANI, “KCR is chief minister of all the mandals and districts in Telangana. But he is speaking like a sarpanch and offering special schemes like Rs 10 lakh to each family in Chintamadaka village. We are not against this scheme but we demand that the Rs 10 lakh scheme should be given to all the families in the state.”
Rao has in the past faced criticism from citizens, political opponents and civil society for taking decisions without debate. After Telangana’s formation in 2014, several of KCR’s plans had to be shelved because of controversies and opposition. These included plans to construct a new secretariat building that complies with vaastu (something he still endeavours to do), bringing down the heritage Osmania Hospital building and a decision to introduce cheap liquor.
In April 2017, Congress leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said when a CM takes a decision, he should consider all the pros and cons. “Rao is driven by momentary emotions. His decisions prove he lacks the maturity to head a state,” he said.
Health profile
Apart from the announcement of the scheme, the chief minister also made a slew of other announcements. According to News 18, the TRS chief also sanctioned Rs 25 crore for the development of Siddipet town, Rs 5 crore for the development of Ranganayak Sagar tank and Rs 50 lakh to every panchayat in the Siddipet assembly segment. He also allocated Rs 1 crore each to Mustabad and Gudur villages and Rs 10 crore to Dubbak.
In addition, the chief minister also directed MLA T. Harish Rao, the district’s collector and local authorities to begin the process of creating a health profile of the village. Blood samples of the villagers would be collected and their health would be checked. This would be expanded across the Siddipte constituency, under which Chintamadaka falls.
“I have a vision that a comprehensive health profile should be created for the entire state with blood samples and medical history. If someone meets with an accident their medical history should be available with a click of a button, and their blood group would be easily accessed,” he said.