K Chandrasekhar Rao showers sops on citizens as Huzurabad bypoll draws closer

SIRCILLA: In what appeared as an attempt to appease the people of erstwhile Karimnagar district ahead of the Huzurabad byelection, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced several incentives on Sunday, including the lowering of age limit for Aasara pension eligibility to 57 years and the provision of a Rs 5-lakh insurance cover for handloom and powerloom weavers on the lines of the Rythu Bheema scheme.

​It is expected that the announcement, coupled with a few other promises made during the inauguration of the district offices complex in Sircilla, would rub off on the electorate of Huzurabad, which happens to be part of the truncated Karimnagar district, where bypoll fever is already high.

Lending a hand to weavers

Stating that the weavers in Telangana were a vulnerable section and were badly in need of insurance coverage, the CM said, “Though the government is taking care of some of their needs, like subsidising the price of yarn and dyes up to 50 per cent, they still lead a fragile life and need some hand-holding.”

He also sanctioned Rs 5 crore for the construction of a community hall for the weavers. “IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao, who has the weavers’ interests at heart, is very much engaged in providing relief to them,” Rao said.

Age limit for Aasara pension

The CM said that in the next Cabinet meeting, the proposal to lower the age limit for Aasara pension eligibility to 57 years would be cleared and a GO would be issued to that effect immediately afterwards.

Rao also announced a shot in the arm for nursing students by raising the paltry monthly stipend of the first, second and third-year students from the present amounts of Rs 1,500, Rs 1,700 and Rs 1,900 to Rs 5,000, Rs 6,000 and Rs 7,000, respectively.He also promised a medical college and hospital in Sircilla, besides announcing an engineering college as per KT Rama Rao’s request. 

“The medical college will be sanctioned next year. The idea is to ensure that every district has a medical college and a hospital attached to it,” he said.

What’s in store for Telangana

Rs 5-lakh insurance cover for handloom and powerloom weavers of Telangana on the lines of the Rythu Bheema scheme 

Rs 5 crore sanctioned for the construction of a community hall for weavers in Sircilla district

Proposal for lowering the age limit for Aasara pension eligibility to 57 years to be cleared in Cabinet meeting 

Monthly stipend of the first, second and third-year nursing students to be increased to Rs 5,000, Rs 6,000 and Rs 7,000, respectively

A medical college and hospital as well as an engineering college sanctioned to Sircilla

243 acres of land allotted for converting the stretch from Anantagiri to Mid Manair into a tourism hub