PM Modi insulted sacrifices of people for TS, says Harish Rao

Warangal: Minister for Finance and Health T Harish Rao held Prime Minister Narendra Modi responsible for the untold misery of the migrant workers who were stranded at their workplaces after the sudden enforcement of lockdown during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Harish Rao said that Modi who didn't give time for the migrant workers to move to their native places is now blaming the local governments, accusing them of aggravating the Covid-19 pandemic by arranging their return journey to their homes.

"Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao not only ensured food essentials and cash to the migrant workers but also engaged special trains to send them off to their native places. Instead of recognising these services, Modi says that it led to the spread of coronavirus," Harish Rao said.

He said that Modi's utterances didn't stop here; he went on to comment on Telangana formation, thus insulting decades of spirited struggle and sacrifices of the people. It's not the first time Modi insulted Telangana people, he said, recalling the words of Modi on the formation of Telangana during general elections in 2014, that the mother had died but the child survived.

"Notwithstanding the obligation to fulfill the assurances given to Telangana under the AP Reorganisation Act-2014, the BJP-led Central government failed to establish Railway coach factory, steel plant etc. Moreover, the Centre merged seven mandals of Khammam district, including the Sileru Project, with Andhra Pradesh. The Centre has always shown empty hands to Telangana in the budget. Despite this, Telangana made strides in welfare and developmental programmes," Harish Rao said.

Telangana got nothing even though the Centre had sanctioned 157 medical colleges. Despite repeated requests, the Centre also didn't give a single Navodaya School or IIM or IIIT, Harish Rao said, daring BJP State leaders to explain about the Centre's ignorance.

Seven of the 10 villages in Telangana topped the Adarsh Villages under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY), Union Ministry of Rural Development. This apart, the State received several awards at the national-level, he said. Telangana stood third in the country, whereas BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh languished last in healthcare, according to NITI Aayog, Harish Rao said. Referring to the developmental activity, Harish Rao said that Warangal will soon become a health hub. The Chief Minister had already laid the foundation for a multi super-speciality hospital with an estimated cost of Rs 1,100 crore.

The State government has already established 20 T-Diagnostic Centres which cater 57 types of laboratory tests. Plans are afoot to set up labs in other 13 districts with an outlay of Rs 3.5 crore, he added. The government will soon upgrade Mulugu (200 beds), Bhupalpally (300 beds), Mahbubabad (200 beds) and Narsampet (200 beds) hospitals. The State will soon have eight medical colleges and four TIMS hospitals, he added.

Earlier, Harish Rao inaugurated a mother milk bank, TB specialty clinic, blood storage unit and 42-bed paediatric care unit in the MGM Hospital.

Minister for Panchayat Raj Errabelli Dayakar Rao, Minister for Tribal Welfare Satyavathi Rathod, Chief Whip D Vinay Bhaskar, MP Pasunuri Dayakar, MLAs Nannapuneni Narender, Aroori Ramesh and MLC Banda Prakash were among others present.