V. V. Balakrishna Journalist

Friday, 26 September 2014

Mega Dream: Rs 22,000 Crore to Restore 45,300 Minor Irrigation Tanks

Express News Service

Hyderabad: The Telangana government has begun a massive work to restore 45,300 minor irrigation tanks at an estimated cost of ` 22,000 crore in the next five years. Each year around 9,000 tanks would be restored.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao held a meeting with officials of irrigation department here on Thursday and listed out his priorities. The Chief Minister also agreed to provide vehicle loans and petrol allowance to irrigation staff for executing the massive works. To begin with, the government would immediately sanction ` 20 crore for conducting a survey on 45,300 tanks.
Though there are a large number of tanks under panchayat raj department, the Chief Minister has decided them to bring all of them under irrigation department.

Kakatiya link

A large number of irrigation tanks were constructed by Kakatiya kings for providing drinking and irrigation water. Successive Nizam rulers too developed and protected them. The Bachawat tribunal allocated 175 tmc from Godavari and 90 tmc from Krishna to fill up minor irrigation tanks. Around 20 lakh acres of ayacut was under minor irrigation in those times .
The past governments had neglected the minor irrigation sector in Telangana, which is a lifeline of farmers. The farmers too over a period of time neglected desiltation of tanks and depended mostly on borewells.

Desiltation

Officials will start desiltation in village tanks in order to provide irrigation water to farmers. The extent of tanks will be widened with the consent of the locals. Desiltation will be taken up in all tanks within five years.
After desilting the tank, the black soil will be diverted to the nearest farms to improve the fertility of the lands. Trees and water hyacinth (gurrapu dekka) in the tanks will be removed and used as a firewood.
The estimated cost of the programme is ` 22,000 crore. Works will not be given on EPC basis. The entire work will be undertaken by the minor irrigation department itself. The State government will release some money, take funds from the Centre and also obtain loan from any one of the agencies - World Bank, JICA or Nabard. On an average the government is going to spend ` 50 lakh on each tank.

CM's Sramadan
All the Ministers, MP, MLAs, MLCs, officials and students will be involved in the project. District Collectors, students and Ministers should work for two days on a token basis. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao too will do 'Sramadanam' in all the districts, in order to create awareness among the people on restoring and preserving the tanks.

KCR to pen a song
An audio CD will be brought out with a song exclusively for the programme. This will create much-needed awareness among the people. The Chief Minister himself came forward to pen a song for the CD in local dialect. Cultural troops will be formed for spreading the message.

DISTRICT - TANKS - REPAIRS IN FIRST PHASE
Medak - 7,953 - 1,600
Mahbubnagar - 7,099 - 1,400
Karimnagar - 5,866 - 1,170
Warangal - 5,545 - 1,100
Nalgonda - 4,570 - 914
Khammam - 4,297 - 860
Adilabad - 3,779 - 755
Nizamabad - 3,673 - 735
Ranga Reddy - 2,550 - 510

CATEGORISATION OF TANKS

Irrigation tanks - 5,411
Panchayat raj tanks - 32,068
Percolation tanks - 4,962
Tanks in patta lands - 1,662

FOR grapHIC:

SOME DRIVE THIS
* All tanks to be brought under irrigation dept
* Laptops to mandal-level engineers
* Expansion of quality control cell
* Survey on lands of tanks
* NREGS to be linked with restoration of tanks
* To protect tanks in GHMC area too
* ` 5 lakh sanctioning power to SEs
* All Telangana engineers allotted to AP to be brought back
* To examine setting up of Godavari and Krishna river valley authorities
* To bring new Telangana Irrigation Act soon
* VRO at village level to protect the tanks
* Grievance cell at irrigation minister office

To regain the past glory of minor irrigation tanks in Telangana, the government has embarked upon a massive drive. The target is to restore 9,000 tanks every year

Tuesday, 10 June 2014

Telangana to Adapt 600 Acts of United AP

HYDERABAD: The Telangana State has to adapt as many as 600 Acts of Andhra Pradesh for regular functioning of the administration. Without these Acts, the government could not function. The Law Department has initiated measures to adapt the Acts. However, the Acts need not be referred to the Telangana Assembly for two years. The AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, provides an opportunity to Telangana Chief Minister to adapt the Acts with the consent of the Governor. The executive process is sufficient in this direction. If the Telangana government wanted to amend a particular Act, then the government may refer it the State Assembly. “It will take a lot of time, if all the 600 Acts are referred to the Assembly,” sources in the Law Department told Express. The Reorganisation Act gave leverage to the Chief Minister for two years. The officials also issued an internal circular to this effect to all the district collectors and senior officials about the position of the existing Acts and laws for the new states. Section 101 of the Reorganisation Act stated that: “For the purpose of facilitating the application in relation to the State of Andhra Pradesh or the State of Telangana of any law made before the appointed day, the appropriate Government may, before the expiration of two years from that day, by order, make such adaptations and modifications of the law, whether by way of repeal or amendment, as may be necessary or expedient, and thereupon every such law shall have effect subject to the adaptations and modifications so made until altered, repealed or amended by a competent Legislature or other competent authority.” The Law Department officials are also looking into the past judgments given by the Supreme Court. “In the State of Punjab and others Vs Balbir Singh and others case, the Supreme Court inter alia held that when there is no change of sovereignty and it is merely an adjustment of territories by reorganisation of a particular State, the administrative orders made by the Governor of erstwhile State continue to be in force and effective and binding on the successor States until and unless they are modified, changed or repudiated by the Governments of the successor States. It has also been observed that no other view is possible to be taken, as that will merely bring about chaos in the administration of new States,” the officials recalled in this connection. “The Supreme Court, while interpreting sections 84 and 85 of the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000, held that the sections provide that the laws which were applicable to the undivided Bihar would continue to apply to the new States created by the Act.” In view of these two cases and sections 100, 101 and 101 of the AP Reorganisation Act, officials clarified: “All the laws applicable to the undivided AP will continue to apply to the new States of Telangana and AP. To facilitate their application in respect of Telangana and AP States, the appropriate government may, before the expiration of two years from June 2, by order, make such adaptations and modifications of the law, whether by way of repeal or amendment, and thereupon. Every such law adapted or modified will continue till it is altered, repealed or amended by Legislature or other competent authority, in the respective States.

Points to ponder
■ If the Telangana government wants to amend a particular Act, then the government may refer it the State Assembly. ■ The Reorganisation Act gave leverage to the Chief Minister for two years

Monday, 2 June 2014

Transition Process to Take Another Week

Hyderabad: The transition process to divide work between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states is expected to be completed by June 9. "Most of the transition will be completed by June 9. The Transition Committee is to review on a daily basis and sort out any issues and submit a daily progress report to the chief secretaries of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh till June 9," an order issued by the government said on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Transition Committee will first organise the office space allocated to them. As most of the floors in the Secretariat are allotted to more than one department, the senior-most secretary will be responsible to allocate office space on a particular floor to the staff. A clear layout plan, allocating rooms and workspaces to staff should be prepared by June 2.
This floor plan should indicate rooms for secretaries, for other senior staff and workspaces for sections. It should also indicate the location of record room and see that phones, faxes, computers, printers should also be made fully functional.
All secretaries and heads of departments are required to allocate subjects amongst the employees ordered to serve the state of Telangana and the remaining employees of Andhra Pradesh. As both the successor states would have less number of employees, the subjects are to be allotted by clubbing similar topics. This exercise is to be completed by June 3.
Employees ordered to serve the state of Telangana are to be relieved on June 2. However, they will be responsible to hand over all the files, movable assets and all other items under their custody to their identified counterpart in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The handing of files should be completed by June 9.
Each employee of Andhra Pradesh should have a counterpart (s) in Telangana state and vice versa.
In the Secretariat, certain departments are allocated the same office space that they are currently occupying. In such cases, the committee should make sure that space is created for incoming staff and new departments allotted to that floor. The movement of files and other movable assets can take place once such space is earmarked.
No Due Certificate: All handing over and taking over is to be done under proper certification by each employee who is handing over and his /her counterpart taking over from the other state.
Only after complete hand-over, a 'No Due' certificate may be issued by the officer in charge of OP section. The production of 'No Due' certificate is mandatory for drawing salary for the month of June.

Sunday, 1 June 2014

State Govt Guarantees, PPP Projects Also Apportioned

HYDERABAD: The state government divided the outstanding government guarantees given to various departments including Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board and others for obtaining loans. As part of the division of the state, the government also apportioned the outstanding guarantees between two states. The guarantees were given by the government to 21 institutions, of which, the AP state amount is around 14,000 crore and the Telangana amount is around Rs 17,000 crore. The guarantee given to AP Transco, the principal amount apportioned is Rs 3,960 crore to AP and Rs 5,594 crore to Telangana state. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board is located in Telangana, the entire counter guarantee amount goes to T-state. Meanwhile, the state government also decided to write off outstanding loans and advances sanctioned earlier to AP State Road Development Corporation and others
PPP PROJECTS:
The government also apportioned the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) projects between AP and Telangana. A separate PPP Cell was created to Telangana state. The new URL for AP is www.ppp. ap.gov.in and the new URL for Telangana state is www. ppp.tg.gov.in. The summary of PPP projects in AP as on May 31: The total projects 31, initiating amount Rs 22,799.35 crore and bidding amount Rs 8,265.13 crore. Under operation or completed projects are 101 and the amount is Rs 24,663.97 crore. The total PPP projects in combined state are 180 involving a total amount of Rs 75,882.73 crore. The successor State governments may update wherever necessary the content, including state logo, state name, information on the State officials, information on PPP projects in their respective websites. They may also delete the information which is not pertaining to their respective statee and may start using the new websites after comprehensively validating the data in websites. Orders to this effect were issued on Saturday by Finance Departments.

Rousing Reception Awaits First T CM

HYDERABAD: Rousing reception awaits first chief minster of Telangana K Chandrasekhar Rao at the Secretariat on Monday. Immediately after the swearingin ceremony on June 2, Rao will go to the Secretariat in a bullet-proof vehicle. He will step down from his vehicle at Nalla Pochamma temple, a few yards away from the C Block. He will have darshan of Nalla Pochamma, where a large number of Telangana Secretariat staff will give him a rousing reception. Rao will leave his car at the temple and walk up to CBlock along with Telangana employees. Top police officials on Saturday discussed the security measures to be taken to protect the ‘VIP’ as he will be walking from Pochamnma temple to C Block. After assuming charge as Chief Minister, Rao will address the Telangana employees from a specially arranged dais. The workers are busy on Saturday to erect a huge dais with iron grills in front of C Block. Rao will address the T-employees, whose role in Telangana movement is unforgettable. Meanwhile, all the four blocks allotted to Telangana state in Secretariat are decked up with serial bulbs. The C Block, from where Telangana chief minster will function, will be decorated with flowers. Especially, the fifth and sixth floors of C Block, which houses the chief minister’s office and other peshis, will be decked up.

Transition Plan Devised for Smooth Division of Staff and Assets

HYDERABAD: The state government has devised a plan for the smooth implementation of allocation of staff, assets, buildings between AP and Telangana states. The Transition Plan (TP) will be executed under the supervision of the chief secretary until the Appointed Day and, thereafter, under the joint supervision of the chief secretaries of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states. Compliance reports shall be furnished to the respective chief secretaries and the State Reorganisation Cell with copy marked to Governor’s Office on a weekly basis. The principal objectives of the Transition Plan are to: ensure smooth reorganisation of the existing state of Andhra Pradesh in accordance with the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act provisions, to establish functioning Secretariat and head of department offices/corporations/ societies/training institutions, etc. to serve the governments of Telangana and AP and address issues likely to arise in both states, especially during the period of one to three months after the Appointed Day and undertake preparatory/remedial measures. Transition Committees are set up at Secretariat, HoDs and corporations/ companies level. The committees will take possession of the office space allocated to the respective departments of both the states. The secretaries of the new states shall ensure that appropriate organograms are prepared for Secretariat and HOD offices, allocating work to officers. The committees also ensure management of files, movable assets, legal matters, contracts, personnel, management of schemes and programmes. Management of corporations, societies and institutions is also the task of transition committees. The government established an apex committee to provide strategic and operational guidance and support to the state reorganisation process until the Appointed Day. However, several issues relating to the state reorganisation would linger for a long while after the Appointed Day and several other matters would require close collaboration and coordination between the two States.
APEX COMMITTEE:
An Apex Coordination Committee (ACC) on State Reorganisation matters is established with the following: Chief secretaries of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, cochairpersons, planning secretary/state development commissioners of AP and Telangana, home, finance, irrigation, energy, higher education, industry and public enterprises secretaries and others dealing with state reorganisation or those specially nominated by the chief secretary of AP will be the members-secretary of the committee. The Apex Coordination Committee will meet every week on a designated day/ periodically to review all issues relating to state reorganisation, with specific reference to allocation of staff, assets and liabilities, files, etc. Its main responsibility will be to ensure close coordination and collaboration between the two States on all matters relating to governance and resolution of contentious issues, if any, amicably.
SRC:
On the advice of the central government, a State Reorganisation Cell (SRC) was established to provide effective support to the Advisory Committee for allocation of state cadre employees. Since the principal responsibility for final allocation of state cadre employees will devolve to the residual State of Andhra Pradesh with the committee chaired by CR Kamalanathan being housed in the Andhra Pradesh Government, the State Reorganisation Cell may have the chief secretaries of the two state governments, replacing the chief secretary of the combined state. The new government of Andhra Pradesh will nominate the member-secretary of the cell/committee secretary dealing with state reorganisation or a specially-designated secretary. Similarly, the state of Telangana shall nominate a department and secretary for State Reorganisation which shall coordinate with the AP State reorganisation Committee and the State Advisory Committee.
GRIEVANCE REDRESS:
All the grievances of employees issued with provisional ‘order to serve’ by the Central government and other aspects of state reorganisation will be received by the principal secretary/Secretary in charge of the concerned department who will refer the same to State Reorganisation Cell in the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh. Thereafter, they will be referred to the Apex Coordination Committees for redress - through the secretary in charge of State Reorganisation. The Apex Coordination Committee shall liaise with the State Reorganisation Departments of both states. The state of Telanagna may also constitute a state reorganisation unit which will examine/ analyse the issues that need to be put up to the Apex Coordination Committee for consideration.

Technology Hastens, Smoothens Division

HYDERABAD: Around five youths, who are IT professionals at the Centre for Good Governance (CGG), helped the state government in the division process. The latest IT software came in handy for the division of the state. Unlike bifurcation of other states, there has been a vast improvement in technology at the time of bifurcation of AP. Most other states like Punjab and MP did the work manually. But, around five youths working as IT professionals at CGG developed an exclusive software for the division work. “Five persons supported by another five youths prepared the entire software at CGG. Normally, preparing such a software will take at least three years and costs government around Rs 3 crore. But, the CGG youths prepared the software in a short span of time with much less amount,” Principal secretary (Finance) PV Ramesh told reporters. An exclusive software was necessary for the government to collect around 12.5 lakh government employees data through online. After the HoDs uploaded the data, the officials simply gave certain commands as per the Central government’s guidelines. Then, the software automatically allocated the employees for Telangana and AP. The software will also be useful for the officials for the final allocation of statecadre employees between AP and T. Without the help of IT, the gigantic task would take much more time to do it manually. “Today is the end of journey. It is a very challenging task. The most interesting work I have done in my career,” Finance secretary PV Ramesh told reporters on Saturday. The Finance Department is a nodal agency, which has to give clearance for sanctioning of any post in any department. That was why the role of Finance department is crucial in allocation of employees between two states. The CR Kamalanathan committee will start work from June 2 for final allocation. The provisional allocation work was done by the State government officials. The Kamalanathan committee in consultation with chief ministers of AP and T will frame the guidelines. Finally, the Prime Minister has to ratify the final allocations. The work will starting with identification of posts to personnel, calling for objections and allocating the staff will take three to six months time.
No Promotions to State Staff
Till the final allocation is made, there will be no promotions to state-cadre employees. But, the employees in local to multi-zonal posts may get promotions.