What do Telangana’s people want from its government?
4 min read . Updated: 02 Jun 2016, 06:45 PM IST
PremiumTelangana farmers want subsidy, food processing units from TRS govt as it enters its third year in power
Bengaluru/Hyderabad: Thursday marks the second anniversary of the creation of Telangana, the country’s 29th state. Mint spoke to eight people from various professions and socio-economic backgrounds across India’s youngest state about their expectation from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government as it enters its third year in power.
Addunoori Yadagiri, a farmer from Bheemaram village in Warangal
The government is now encouraging farmers to cultivate soya bean in place of cotton, but if all of us cultivate soya bean what will happen to market demand tomorrow? Prices will fall if everyone produces soya. We are concerned we will not even get the prices we are getting today for traditional crops. What measures will the government take in this regard?
We don’t have food processing units for soya in Telangana. The government should ensure food processing units are set up before asking us to move to soya.
Last year we had normal rainfall in Warangal. (Against 993.6 mm of rainfall, this year Warangal had rainfall of 992.9 mm.) Yet, the government declared 11 mandals in the district as drought-prone. Why is there drought when you have normal rainfall? This is because we are not harvesting rain water. The government is asking farmers to create farm ponds to store water. But why would a farmer with small landholding be motivated to start a farm pond in the meagre land he has? The government should provide subsidy and motivate farmers to create farm ponds.
C.H. Prashanth, an unemployed graduate from Moinabad in Rangareddy district
There are not enough government posts for graduate students. For 5 lakh students who graduate every year, there are only about 3,000-4,000 jobs. The government should organize training sessions for the youth and provide career guidance.
Only 40% know what we have to do, 60% don’t know where they should head next. There is no faculty to teach soft skills at colleges. Colleges should have faculty who can provide career guidance to students and teach soft skills, so that students can find jobs.
Quality at educational institutes has fallen badly. Colleges are only concerned with fee reimbursement and are showing student strength to get money from the government. They are not concerned whether students are attending classes and whether faculty is teaching any subject. There is no qualified faculty in colleges, and they are recruiting M.Tech students as faculty. Governments should address these issues and ensure the education system is revived.
Sushma Vinukonda Julooru, a homemaker from Nalgonda district
Though KCR (chief minister Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao) is doing well, it would be more helpful if he can arrest the price rise. Many food items like dal, rice and vegetables are highly priced. He should try to make them more affordable before building affordable houses.The government should set up skill development vocational institutes for village women, so that they can earn while looking after their families.
Ramanjaneyulu G.V., executive director, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture
If it has to be “Bangaru (golden) Telangana", the government should not ignore the farmers. In fact, one of the core issues why Telangana was formed was to uplift rural people. In the two years since the state was formed, there have been 2,200 farmer suicides and no action taken whatsoever. There is a serious agricultural crisis and the government is not ready with a drought action plan too. It has been working against the farmers indeed by converting huge tracts of agricultural land to non-agricultural for the purpose of commercialization. Their focus should shift to farmers soon.
Sumiran Komarraju, political analyst with BJP in Telangana
I expect the government to give the status on corruption, based on the complaints on the toll-free number launched by the government last year. The CM’s pet project, Double Bed Room Scheme, has not taken off.
I also want the promise of free KG-to-PG education implemented in this academic year, along with the 12% reservation promised to scheduled tribes.
Sai Amulya, a PhD student at the university of Hyderabad
One of the reasons why the Telangana agitation took place was that the culture of the people was being neglected. The government should not just celebrate local festivals on a large scale, but should create an interest in indigenous cultures/arts by backing research in these fields. Instituting folk study departments at universities would be a great step.
In a state where most gravitate towards engineering or medicine, it should also encourage the study of liberal arts.
Ravi Korukonda, software entrepreneur in Hyderabad
As an entrepreneur, talent is the most important resource for me, and infrastructure is going to be the key to retain great talent. The government should focus on improving this in the years to come. They’ve taken some steps regarding this, with T Hub etc., but I would like to see more.
R. Manmadh Reddy, advocate in Hyderabad
I think the government is doing well in delivering the promises it made when it came to power. You can’t expect the state to turn around in a matter of months or years. What I’d like to see from them this year is more judges from Telangana in the high court. Right now, there are only four out of 26. There has to be a proportional ratio of judges from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh since it’s a joint high court for now.
