Centre wants to sell TSRTC, we will not sell: KCR

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday said the Centre has been writing to the state, requesting it to sell TSRTC. He displayed the letters sent by the Centre during the Assembly session on Monday.

On a sarcastic note, KCR said the Centre is selling all its properties and asking the state to follow in its footsteps. Stating that the Centre is divesting itself of railways and other assets, KCR said he will not sell TSRTC and added that the state is putting all efforts into keeping the corporation running.

'Withdraw power reforms'

Accusing the Centre of having a poor power policy, KCR asked the Prime Minister to withdraw the power reforms. "The national installed power capacity is 4.04 lakh MW, with a base load (firm power) of 2.42 lakh MW. However, on 22 June this year, the country recorded the highest peak load of 2.1 lakh MW," KCR said adding, "This is less than our standard load. Apart from maximising base load utilisation, we can immediately use at least 1.65 lakh MW in addition."

According to KCR, the Bill's implementation will affect approximately 98 lakh families in Telangana alone. He said people must install a smart prepayment meter to obtain any type of power connection, not just agriculture. "Farmers, Dalits, tribals, laundries and salons, poultry, textiles, MSMEs, and everyone else who get subsidised power will be impacted," he added.

"We will pass a resolution opposing the power reform bill," he said and added, "The country produces 57,975 megawatts of solar power, 51,738 megawatts of hydel power, 40,893 megawatts of wind power, 10,206 megawatts of biomass power, and 472 megawatts of waste-to-energy (power from organic waste, etc.)."

He objected to the passage of power bills and other similar legislation without first consulting the states.

KCR also claimed that he was the first to criticise PM Modi and the government. He chastised BJP MLA M. Raghunandan Rao for misleading the House by citing incorrect references in his statement. He read from the Centre's most recent gazette which stated, "No connections shall be granted without a meter, and such a meter shall be a smart prepayment meter."

SC, ST eligibility marks

KCR said the cut-off eligibility marks in police recruitment for SC and ST candidates will be reduced. Pay scales and retirement age of VRAs will be finalised soon, he said.

According to the notification issued by the police recruitment board this year, the minimum mark required for candidates to qualify in the preliminary written test is 30% or 60 marks for all categories.

In previous police recruitment exams, the cut-off marks were 30% for SC and ST, 35% for BC, and 40% for the OC category.