TG govt will stop food poisoning incidents at govt schools: Bhatti

Hyderabad: Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu has said that the Congress party’s graph is on the rise throughout the country and BJP’s downtrend has begun.

The deputy CM was answering questions from media persons in a chit-chat at Gandhi Bhavan on Wednesday. He said that in the recent elections held in Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand States, the Congress party candidates emerged victorious. He said that a BJP minister was defeated by a Congress candidate in Madhya Pradesh.

Bhatti Vikramarka made it clear that the Rythu Bharosa scheme would remain and the guidelines are being finalised.

Congress on KTR

Referring to BRS working president KTR’s outbursts against the chief minister and the State government, Bhatti said that KTR was ‘talking senselessly’ for the last few days. “Can’t understand the why and what of his rants,” he quipped. “What wrong did the chief minister or the Congress government do for KTR to speak in such a reckless manner? We are not ruling sitting in gadis (palatial bungalows) away from people and we kept our doors wide open for the people. The people’s government is going forward by restoring freedom of expression and liberty to all,” he said.

Bhatti said that the BRS party promised three acres of land to Dalits and tribals and ruled the State for 10 years. He sought to know how many acres were actually distributed and who gained from it.

“How can those who promised jobs for each household and failed to do so criticise the Congress government? KTR who worked as a minister for 10 years should have the minimum decency and etiquette. How could he describe a district collector as a fool? That is why we think he is in a disturbed state of mind,” Bhatti added.

Congress on fulfilling poll promises

The Congress government is fulfilling its promises one by one, the deputy CM said.

“It implemented the free RTC bus travel to women scheme. The government is paying Rs 400 crores to the RTC every month for women. For providing free electricity up to 200 units, the government is paying Rs 150 crores a month and Bhumi Puja would be performed soon for the Indiramma houses,” deputy CM Bhatti said.

The Congress government has credited Rs 18,000 crores into the accounts of farmers within 15 days under the loan waiver scheme and it was a feat unheard of in the country, he said. Farm loans up to Rs 2 lakhs were waived to families with ration cards and if some families were left out as they did not have ration cards, the government has decided to conduct a survey and extend the loan waiver to those families too, he said.

“The previous BRS government waived farm loans of Rs one lakh in four phases over a period of five years and the amount they gave was not even enough to pay the interest on the loans. In the second term too, they did not implement the scheme properly but the BRS leaders have the audacity to criticise the Congress government which implemented the loan waiver scheme in an exemplary manner,” he said.

‘BRS government pushed Telangana into debt trap’

The BRS government brought the State into a financial crisis and was not even in a position to pay salaries to government employees. The BRS government pushed Telangana into a debt trap by increasing the debt burden enormously in 10 years. They reintroduced the feudal setup on Telangana citizens, he said.

Reacting to the Opposition’s criticism that the Congress party was dividing castes, Bhatti said, “We are not creating castes. They have been existing for several centuries in the society.” The Congress government is interested in knowing the population of different castes and whether all castes developed equally as per the Preamble of the Constitution through the caste census survey.

The batch of leaders who looted the State for all these years is now again looking for a chance to loot the State. They would not be comfortable if the caste census would bring out factual data. The Integrated Household survey is taken up by the Congress government to give direction to the country and to take Telangana State forward with progressive principles, he said.

‘State serious about stopping food poisoning in government schools’

Expressing concern over the recent incidents of food poisoning in welfare and residential schools, Bhatti said that the government is quite serious about preventing more such incidents. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy instructed the senior officials, ministers and MLAs to personally supervise hostels and residential schools to ensure hygiene and quality supply of food. The government recently increased mess charges by 40 per cent to provide quality and nutritious food.

Bhatti described the results of the Jharkhand State Assembly as the people’s victory and the collective effort of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and CM Soren. “We explained about the last five-year rule of INDIA Alliance and what we intend to do in the next five years and people there accepted it,” he said.

Congress on party defections

Replying to a question, the deputy CM said that they were not encouraging BRS MLAs to leave their party but they themselves were unable to fit and leaving in groups.

“We allocated Rs 10,000 crores for the development of Hyderabad and the projects will be launched soon,” he said. Bhatti said that they are collecting details of 26 lakh acres of assigned lands distributed during the Congress regime and inquiring about their status after the introduction of the Dharani scheme. They will be distributed again to the eligible poor, he said.