Former Minister & ex-Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir announced that he would undertake a 70 KM long padayatra seeking completion of Package-22 of Pranahita Chevella Project which would irrigate about 3.5 lakh acres of land in Kamareddy, Yellareddy and parts of Ramayampet.
Addressing Bhiknoor Mandal Congress party meeting at SV Garden in Kamareddy constituency on the occasion of joining of over 400 TRS workers in Congress party on Tuesday, Shabbir Ali strongly criticised Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao for not releasing Rs. 200 Crore for the completion of Package-22 of the Pranahita Chevella Project. “The foundation for Pranahita Chevella Project was laid in 2008 by the then Chief Minister Dr. Y.S. Rajashekhara Reddy and as the Cabinet Minister and local MLA, I got approvals for Rs. 1400 Crore to bring Godavari River water to the Kamareddy constituency. But CM KCR has stopped the release of funds since 2014 to complete the Package-22 which will benefit thousands of farmers. Further, no recurring costs are involved in this project as it brings water through gravity,” he said.
Shabbir Ali announced that he would undertake padayatra around the 70-km stretch of Package-22 of the Pranahita Chevella Project. He said Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President A. Revanth Reddy and other senior national leaders of the Congress party would participate in the padayatra. He said the date, schedule and other details would be finalised in a few days.
“CM KCR is not willing to release Rs. 200 Crore for Kamareddy while TRS Govt had spent over Rs. 1 lakh crore in the name of Kaleshwaram Project. CM KCR is focussed only on Gajwel, Siddipet and Sircilla constituencies represented by him, his son (KTR) and nephew (Harish Rao). He is doing utter injustice with other constituencies by not completing pending projects,” he said.
Shabbir Ali also slammed CM KCR for not fulfilling other promises which TRS party made with the common people during 2014 and 2018 elections. He said that the previous Congress Governments had constructed over 12,000 houses for poor people in the Kamareddy constituency. But the TRS Government has not delivered a single 2BHK unit in Kamareddy in the last seven-and-a-half years. Similarly, Dalits were not given the promised three acres of land and other benefits. Allocated funds are not being spent for the welfare of Backward Classes, STs, minorities and other communities. TRS Govt is cheating the people with fake promises, he alleged.
The Congress leader blamed the BJP Government at the Centre and TRS Govt in Telangana for rising unemployment. “BJP Govt is selling away national assets in the name of National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) to raise Rs. 6 lakh crore. Similarly, TRS Govt is selling away government lands to mobilise funds. They are working for the welfare of a few corporates while neglecting the welfare of common people,” he said while expressing fear that the NMP would snatch away lakhs of existing government jobs. He said private companies would never implement reservation and therefore, lakhs of poor SCs, STs, BCs and others would lose job opportunities.
Stating that nearly 30 lakh people were jobless in Telangana, Shabbir Ali demanded that the CM KCR immediately fill nearly 2.5 lakh vacancies in various departments of State Government and its corporations. He also demanded immediate fulfillment of the promise of giving Unemployment Allowance of Rs. 3,016 per month for all jobless youth in Telangana State.
“Irrespective of whether it is in power or not, Congress party always stays among the people and works for their welfare. Relief works worth more than Rs. 41 lakh were taken up during the first lockdown of Covid pandemic through the Shabbir Ali Foundation. Hundreds of lives were saved by arranging 200 oxygen cylinders on a permanent basis in the Kamareddy constituency,” he said.
Shabbir Ali said that the Congress party was regaining the lost ground in Telangana State as all the programmes being undertaken by the Congress party were receiving huge public response. He appealed to the Congress workers and also the people of Kamareddy constituency to support him in undertaking 70 KM padayatra seeking funds for Package-22 of Pranahita Chevella Project.