Adilabad, August 15: Advisor to the Telangana Government Mohammed Ali Shabbir led the 79th Independence Day ceremony in Adilabad with a welfare-first pitch that linked freedom to inclusive governance.

After hoisting the National Flag at Police Parade Ground on Friday, the Advisor saluted freedom fighters and said the government’s test of delivery lay food security, pensions, affordable cooking gas, drinking water, housing, healthcare, education, and urban amenities should reach every eligible citizen on time. He framed welfare not as charity but as a constitutional promise that strengthened dignity and opportunity for the poor.

Shabbir Ali placed women’s mobility at the top of that promise, recalling that the State launched free bus travel for women on December 9, 2023. Since its rollout, women have made 2.39 crore journeys on TSRTC, creating household savings valued at ₹82.88 crore – relief that, he said, directly supported household budgets.

The Advisor said food security under the Public Distribution System remained a backbone of welfare, with an outlay of ₹13,000 crore to distribute 3.10 lakh metric tonnes of superfine rice to cardholders. He added that 1.92 crore ration-card holders stood covered. From July 14, the Congress government began a fresh drive to issue new and restored ration cards; 23,075 new cards were sanctioned and 31,319 restorations were processed in Adilabad alone.  He said the ₹500-per-cylinder support continued to make cooking gas affordable and that 4.33 lakh LPG cylinder refills had been supplied at a government cost of ₹11.31 crore.

On drinking water security, Shabbir Ali reported that 1.02 lakh households were receiving 200 litres per day of safe water and that, to date, 16.78 lakh people had benefitted with an expenditure of ₹55.98 crore.

He said that the Congress government had so far spent Rs 1.13 lakh crore on the welfare of farmers. Under ‘Indiramma Rythu Bharosa’ scheme Rs 12,000 assistance was given to farmers as input assistance. In just 9 days after launching the scheme on June 16, about Rs 9,000 crore was transferred to the farmers’ accounts. In addition to 70.11 lakh registered farmers, 1.2 lakh new farmers were added. Every grain produced by farmers was procured through 7,178 procurement centres and Rs 500 per quintal bonus was paid on fine paddy.

He said quality free power was being supplied to over 29 lakh farmers, costing the government Rs 16,691 crore.

Turning to affordability for farmers and rural households, the Advisor said the administration ensured input availability ahead of the monsoon; 74,266 tonnes of fertiliser had been supplied to cultivators under streamlined logistics.  He stressed that grievance redressal and delivery pipelines were being tightened through mandal- and district-level camps under Bhu Bharati initiative. A total of 11,994 petitions were received and 2,897 were resolved, with follow-up action in progress on the remaining cases.

Housing formed the next leg of the welfare push. As many as 3,500 Indiramma houses have been sanctioned for each constituency across Telangana state by allocating Rs 22,500 crore. In Adilabad district alone, 9,093 houses had been sanctioned, 7,134 grounded, and 3,486 were at various stages of construction, with ₹29.68 crore credited into beneficiaries’ bank accounts for ongoing works. The State also advanced targeted housing by sanctioning 5,080 houses for the PVTG and 1,869 additional units for ST families.

On public health, Shabbir Ali underlined investments in the sector and said 25,051 people in Adilabad district had availed treatment under Aarogyasri, with procedures worth ₹60.89 crore recorded. He said the Critical Care Bhavan of RIMS was being upgraded at a cost of Rs 23 crore.

This academic year, 57,481 students are studying in 694 government schools. As part of this, 1,495 children have been admitted to schools through the Badi Bata program. Special classes were conducted for class 10 students and the district stood at 9th position at the state level with a pass rate of 97.40 percent. Development works are being carried out at the Bhavita Center with an outlay of Rs. 45.24 lakhs for the creation of infrastructure. As part of the Ullas program undertaken under the auspices of the Adult Education Department, 25,753 people have been registered on the app. The 2nd phase of the Healthy School program was started in all government schools in the district on July 3rd and is being implemented successfully. Self-defense classes are being conducted under the Rani Lakshmibai Atma Rakshana Pariyojana for girls from classes 6 to 12 in 163 schools run under Samagra Shiksha. 18,500 girls are benefiting from this program.

Marriage assistance continued to cushion vulnerable families. Through Kalyana Lakshmi and Shaadi Mubarak, the State supported 40,103 families, with benefit amounts of ₹1,00,116 per bride and ₹1,25,145 for physically handicapped couples.

As part of the Indira Mahila Shakti program, 95,097 students were provided with uniforms by 534 members of self-help groups. Under bank linkage, loans of Rs. 61.86 crores were sanctioned to 790 groups this financial year, and Rs. 7.24 crores were sanctioned to 836 groups under the Women’s Fund. So far, 34.97 lakh work days have been provided under the Employment Guarantee Scheme and Rs. 96.62 crores have been paid for various works, and Rs. 20.65 crores have been paid for material. As part of the Vana Mahotsav, a total of 34 lakh saplings have been raised in 468 nurseries this financial year under the Employment Guarantee Scheme, and 23.48 lakh saplings have been planted so far. Under the Cheyutha scheme, the government is distributing support pensions worth Rs. 17.26 crores to 73,418 people in the district every month, he said.

Concluding his address, Mohammed Ali Shabbir said Telangana’s long-term targets were clear: a ₹1-trillion economy by 2035 and ₹3-trillion by 2047. He called on public representatives, officials, community leaders, youth, and citizens to treat the “Telangana@2047” vision as a shared mission, arguing that Independence Day would be truly honoured only when every beneficiary received their entitlement in full and on time. (eom)