Hyderabad: IT and industries minister KT Rama Rao (KTR) said that the ruling TRS government’s agenda is to get jobs for the youth in the state “despite zero support” from the central government. He also added that the opposition in Telangana is getting in the way of good work done by his party.
Addressing the Telangana legislative assembly on Thursday, the minister said that despite constant requests to the centre for financial assistance, there has been no sign of any money.
“In 2014, Rs 1,40,000 was the per capita income of Telangana. Today, the per capita income of the state is Rs 2,78,000. RBI’s data from October says that Telangana is the 11th largest state in India in terms of geography, 12th in population, but the 4th largest contributor to India’s economy. Despite this, we’re yet to see any money from the centre,” said KTR.
He further stated that the Centre announced that the NIMS pharma city was a hub for pharmaceutical growth. “But in the past 5 years, we’ve only seen 5 crores from the centre. This is shameful. Is this what they mean by ‘sabka saath sabka vikaas’?” asked the minister.
He also drew a parallel between China and India, saying that in 1987, China and India had the same GDP. “Today, after 30 years, India’s GDP is 2.4 trillion dollars while China’s GDP is 16 trillion dollars. It is a 578% growth. Where did this shift happen? This is because China focused heavily on becoming the factory for the entire world. They were thinking on a different scale,” KTR asserted.
He said that building multiple large industrial parks would eventually reduce costs. “Having common facilities would promote localised growth in business,” he opined.
Responding to a question by Congress MLA from the Mulugu constituency Dansari Anasuya, popularly known as Seethakka, on what reforms were announced for women, Dalit and Tribal population, KTR said, “The T-Pride project had allocated 1,104 crores for 24,227 Dalits and 1,124 crores for 24,604 tribals. A quota of 10% in industrial parks are set aside for women.”
Addressing the demands by opposition legislators on having 95% reservation in private sector jobs as well (chief minister KCR announced new 80,000 plus job notifications a day earlier), KTR stated that when MNCs look to establish a company, they don’t wonder if they should build in Telangana, Gujarat or Maharashtra.
“They wonder about building in India, Malaysia or Vietnam. If we ask for 80% or 90% reservation for local workers, they can easily consider shifting to a different place. To prevent this, we’ve come up with positive policies. Through TS IPASS, we will give companies rights to set up their base here,” the IT and industries minister informed.
He further informed that if industries reserves 70% jobs for semi-skilled workers, and 50% jobs for skilled workers, they would receive an additional 5% capital subsidy and 10% SGST and 10% subsidy in power cost. In category 2, if the companies reserve 80% jobs for semi-skilled workers and 60% for skilled workers, they will receive 10% capital subsidy.
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