Hits& misses  2017

HYDERABAD:  Sowing a new future
Unlike the last two years, the state government finally met its target of planting 40 crore seedlings this year, during the third phase of its plantation programme Haritha Haaram. Initially, the state government drew flak from the Opposition on the sustainability of the saplings. However, that hasn’t been the case this year. Besides planting saplings, Grama Haritha Rakshana committees were formed and one nodal officer for each village was appointed to look after the plants. However, monitoring and maintaining the planted saplings continues to be an issue that the government will hopefully solve next year.

Telugu love triangle
Telangana beat Andhra in proclaiming its love for the language by hosting the World Telugu Conference, and Telangana Telugu finally got its due. Linguists and patrons of Telangana Telugu were remembered for their contributions at the conference attended by over 8,000 people. The four-day event buzzed with activity where the international contingent, which came in from more than 40 countries discussed ways to keep Telugu alive. Age-old art forms like Netravadhanam, and its next-generation torch bearers, received much-deserved acclaim. The conference did not end without murmurs from the Opposition ranks of some heros of history being forgotten —like NT Rama Rao.

Start-up, get going
Hyderabad attracted global attention by hosting the eighth annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit. The GES provided the government a platform, with an audience of over 1,000 entrepreneurs, to showcase the advantages of investing in the State that topped the Ease of Doing Business Index in 2017. According to reports, representatives of around 45 American companies met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the summit’s sidelines and expressed their commitment to continue investing in India.

Who’s indigenous? 
In the bad news, the tussle between Adivasis and Lambadas over reservations for Scheduled Tribes took a violent turn towards the end of the year and shows no sign of abatement. A series of violent clashes rocked agency areas of Adilabad and Kumram Bheem Asifabad districts, causing a great deal of loss to public and personal property. A few senior cops and bureaucrats bore the brunt of the clashes. However, that’s been the limit of government reaction. 

Of Dalits and atrocities 
The Nerella incident — where eight Dalits were allegedly subjected to third-degree torture by police in Rajanna-Sircilla district on charges of having torched sand-laden trucks — became a massive political weapon for the opposition parties to use against the ruling TRS government. Though the incident happened in July, it was only in August that the government suspended a sub-inspector for torture. One of the victims tried to set himself on fire in front of the district collectorate earlier this month. 

Smart Karimnagar
Efforts of Telangana government finally bore fruit as Karimnagar joined the club of 30 cities selected under Centre’s flagship programme Smart Cities Mission (SCM). Officials say that Karimnagar, the third most populous city in Telangana, will get `200 crore from the Union government as development aid. This will be followed by `100 crore each for three years. However, the district administration has submitted a plan that will cost `1,878 crore for all round development of the city. The big question is how soon and by how much will Karimnagar get smart. 

Moms-to-be at risk
From January 28 to February 4 in 2017, at least five women who underwent caesarean delivery at Niloufer Hospital, suffered from heavy bleeding and died. Later, a committee comprising of doctors from Anesthesia, Gynaecology and other departments was formed. In their report, the committee members gave clean chit to doctors, and stated strong suspicion on quality of drugs as possible cause of maternal deaths. Next hearing on the maternal deaths, at State Human Rights Commission is slated for January 28-2018. On the whole, from April to October-2017, a total of 301 maternal deaths were reported. Apart from the maternal deaths, the alleged case of wombs on rent for surrogacy shook the State. On June 17, Hyderabad Police Task Force, and District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) of Hyderabad raided an infertility clinic in Banjara Hills on suspicion that wombs are rented for surrogacy there. However, the clinic’s management denied any wrong doing.

When science took the backseat
For the first time in its 105-year history, the Indian Science Congress (ISC) was postponed barely two weeks before it was to commence at the Osmania University. The venue was later shifted to Manipur. Reports claimed the event was shifted ‘fearing protests by students.’ In the backdrop of a Dalit student committing suicide, officials suspected the students would stage protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was to inaugurate the conference, added reports. The organisers of the event blamed the university administration and the latter has refused to fully clarify the reasons for the cancellation. 

A new cool train! 
The 30 km Miyapur-Ameerpet-Nagole stretch was inaugurated with Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi flagging off the train on November 28. The metro opened 24 stations to the public on November 29 and clocked over 2 lakh ridership that day raking in over `1.2 crore. A month since the metro started operation, HMRL claimed that so far 32.25 lakh passengers have used the service. On weekdays, the metro footfalls cross 1 lakh and on weekends touch over 2 lakh in footfalls. The rest of the 74 km metro line is expected to be open by June 2018. 

Chilli burns farmers’ livelihoods
2017 saw a new trend where cotton farmers, who experienced a market crash, switched to growing chilli. However, that didn’t turn out well. Chilli output saw a rise of 14% but lack of demand sent prices crashing. The infuriated farmers demanding minimum support price went on a rampage, vandalized Market Yard office before setting a large stock of crop on fire. The incident sparked a massive outcry when a team of Khammam police brought 10 farmers — who were in judicial remand in connection with the attack — in handcuffs in public view. Opposition parties cried it as the worst form of ‘autocratic rule’. As Telangana stands second in farmer suicide with 1,100 deaths this year, what seems to be a bigger crisis is only 250 deaths have been included in government’s list making it difficult for families to claim compensation.