Need to increase pace of development works in TS: Dattatreya

Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said that there was an urgent need to increase the pace of development works in Telangana State.

Addressing a media conference here on Saturday after reviewing with officials of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on development activities with special focus on housing, health and education, Dattatreya said that as the centre is extending financial support through Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana for the double bed room housing scheme, the State Government has to complete this major project as per the schedule for the benefit of the poor.

Explaining on the statistics of the PMAY, Dattatreya said that centre sanctioned 1, 51,155 houses for the state. Out of this, as many as 70,674 houses were sanctioned in rural areas with Rs.508 crore funds and 80,481 houses sanctioned in urban areas with Rs.1207 crore. Under GHMC limits the total sanctioned houses under PMAY are 32091, he said. But the state government has so far called tenders for only 139,000 houses and out of this, tenders have been finalised for only 85,000 houses. The construction work started for 40,000 houses only, he said.

Dattatreya stated that soon he would have a review meeting with the Municipal Administration & Urban Development Minister K.T. Ramarao on the double bedroom scheme implementation.

Dattatreya informed that the South Central Railway would start a new train between Karimnagar and Mumbai. The state government has to allot funds and provide the land for the completion MMTS Phase-II by December 2018. As of now, only Rs. 60 crore has been released for this project out of the Rs. 380 crore by the state government, he said.

“I will discuss with Defence Minister, if any land issues involved with the Defence Ministry for this MMTS project”, he said. To reduce the burden on Secunderabad Railway Station, Cherlapally and Nagulapally will be developed as big stations, he added.

Dattatreya urged that state government to improve the basic infrastructure in Hyderabad schools and saying that the district is at the bottom place in terms of quality of government provided education. He also stated that the situation at the major government hospitals is also worrisome. The contract workers being paid less salaries and the issues need to be addressed urgently, he said. Dattareya also stated that he would soon have review meetings with concerned state ministers to discuss these issues.

BJP MLAs G. Kishan Reddy and Chintala Ramachandra Reddy, SCR GM Vinod Kumar Yadav and other officials were present at the review meeting.