Hyderabad: The State cabinet has decided to invite Sonia Gandhi and felicitate her during the Telangana Formation Day celebrations to be held on June 2. A resolution was passed by the cabinet to that effect on Monday, which would also write to the Election Commission of India (ECI), seeking its nod to invite Gandhi and hold a public meeting in Hyderabad on the occasion.
Addressing the media after the four-hour cabinet meeting on Monday, Revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy said that the cabinet has also decided to give Rs 500 as a bonus per quintal for fine grain paddy, in addition to the minimum support price (MSP) from the coming Kharif 2024 season. The fine grain varieties for which this bonus will be given, will be announced by the scientists at Professor Jayashankar Telangana state Agricultural university (PJTSAU) shortly.
The cabinet also decided to make district collectors responsible for paddy procurement and assured the procurement of the entire paddy including the paddy soaked and sprouted in unseasonal rains this Rabi season. The minister stated that till now 30 lakh tonne paddy has been procured through the paddy procurement centres (PPC).
Srinivas Reddy said that chief minister A Revanth Reddy gave instructions to officials to take stern action against those selling spurious seeds, and to create awareness among the people through advertisements in the cinema halls and other means, to ensure that farmers kept their receipts after buying seeds from the dealer, till they harvested their crop.
Also disclosing that appropriate steps will be taken by the State government on Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme as per the recommendations of the national dam safety authority, Srinivas Reddy said that the experts from NDSA in their interim report on the damages to the project, have instructed that the gates of the three barrages (Medigadda, Sundilla and Annaram) be kept open through the monsoons, so that no water could be stored in them.
“The NDSA experts have cautioned that even if repairs are done to the barrages, they couldn’t be sure that no further damage would happen in the near future. They have formed a six-member committee of experts, and have advised against conducting any repairs to the barrages till all the tests they are doing are done,” he said.
He, however, said that the State government has given instructions to irrigation officials to study the feasibility of using any rock formations to temporarily lift water from the river with a nominal expenditure, if there is a possibility, so that farmers could be helped in Kharif season.
IT minister D Sridhar Babu announced that the cabinet has decided to revamp the basic facilities and infrastructure in the government schools across the state within 25-30 days through “Amma Adarsha Schools” by spending Rs 600 crore on it.
Sridhar Babu, who heads the cabinet sub-committee for the project, has said that Rs 120 crore was being released as an advance to carry-out the works, which he said, would transform the government educational institutions as modern schools.
He also announced that “Amma Adarsha School Committees” will be formed by women’s self-help groups with the head master of the school acting as its chairman, to see the efficient operation of the project, which he said, will be completed before the start of the new academic year on June 12.
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