New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday sought a “detailed note” from the Telangana state government on its controversial household survey in the state as Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday knocked on his doors with a long wishlist, that includes conferring of Special Category status. Mr Rao, who met Mr Modi along with a delegation of his party MPs, explained to the Prime Minister in detail how the survey was conducted across the state in one day and the benefits of the massive exercise from the administration’s point of view.
“After hearing the Chief Minister’s explanation on why and how the survey was conducted, the Prime Minister seemed to have been impressed by the exercise. He (Mr Modi) asked the Chief Minister to send a detailed note to him on the exercise, the kind of details collected from those surveyed and its benefits,” TRS floor leader in Lok Sabha A.P. Jitender Reddy told this newspaper. He said the household survey conducted on August 19 was one of the major issues that came up for discussion between the Chief Minister and the Prime Minister during the meeting that lasted about 30 minutes.
Mr Rao told the Prime Minister that there are 80 lakh households in Telangana, but 1.2 crore ration cards and that was one of the reasons to conduct the survey. TRS Parliamentary Party leader K. Keshav Rao said the Chief Minister and his delegation told Mr Modi what they got best of the survey and its benefits. The Chief Minister presented a wish list of 20 demands to the Prime Minister including Special Category status, tax incentives, setting up of 4,000 MW NTPC power plant, 500 MW additional power allocation, setting up of an IIM, new world class airport in northern Telangana, smart cities and road connectivity for backward regions.
During his meeting with Mr Modi, Mr Rao stressed on the fact that Telangana also deserves Special Category status and that it needs to be treated on par with residuary Andhra Pradesh. He also batted for other projects while stressing on the need for implementing all promises that were made while passing the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. “When the Chief Minister made the demand for Special Category status to the new state, the Prime Minister gave a patient hearing and promised to look into the demand. He opined that Telangana was a new state and the Union government will do everything in its power to help the new state,” Mr Reddy said.
