Current Telangana emblem symbolises aristocracy, dictatorship of past rulers, says Revanth Reddy

HYDERABAD: Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has once again reiterated his decision of his Cabinet to change the existing official emblem of Telangana. This decision comes just days after the State Cabinet decided to change the vehicle registration numbers from TS to TG, changing the features of Telangana Talli and adopting 'Jaya Jaya He Telangana' song as the State song.

Replying to the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address to the joint session of the Telangana Assembly on Friday, Revanth Reddy said, "This is the State that fought against the Nizam's rule. Sammakka and Saralamma opposed paying money to Kakatiya rulers. It is unfortunate that the State's emblem has Charminar and the Kakatiya symbols. It symoblises aristocracy and dictatorship of rulers in the past. Hence its has been decided to change the official symbol of Telangana."

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Taking potshots at BRS president K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) for being absent during the Assembly session on Friday, Revanth said, "People of Telangana have entrusted the task of opposition to the BRS in the State. It is unfortunate that KCR is not present in the ongoing Assembly budget session. I am appealing to KCR to attend the session and provide his expertise to the newly formed Government.”

Group 1 applicants upper age limit increased

During his speech, Revanth Reddy also announced the State Government’s decision to increase the upper age limit of Group 1 applicants to 46 years. Previously the age limit was between 18 and 44.

Responding to the criticism of the BRS that the Congress Government failed to deliver on Group 1 appointments by February 1,2024, Revanth took a jibe at KCR, KT Rama Rao (KTR), Harish Rao and Kavitha without naming them and said that the cleanup of the TSPSC took time due to existing rules.

“The clean up of TSPSC has been delayed due to some rules. The opposition is raking up the issue of about two lakh jobs as four of them lost their jobs. We are not a Government that will fill jobs by selling question papers in photocopy shops. We won’t sell the jobs by appointing our relatives in Government positions,” he said.

Revanth added that the youth had been eagerly waiting for jobs in the police department. “We will soon fill 15,000 vacancies in the police department. We will also fill vacancies in Universities,” he said.

Blame game on irrigation projects

Blaming the BRS for not standing up against Andhra Pradesh for the rightful share of Telangana's waters, Revanth questioned, "What did the KCR Government do when the neighboring Andhra Pradesh occupied Nagarjuna Sagar? If the Andhra Government was drawing water, what did you (KCR) do in the past? Who went to KRMB meetings till 2023? Who gave Andhra the opportunity to draw 12 tmc of water from Srisailam every day?"

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In his speech, Revanth Reddy also highlighted the work of his Government after assuming power. He said that the free bus travel scheme for women was implemented along with enhancing the Aarogyasri scheme limit to Rs 10 lakh. The Chief Minister also said that two more guarantees would be implemented soon.

Mahalakshmi scheme increased revenue in temples: Revanth

Revanth Reddy shared that in the last two months, women in Telangana have been utilising the free bus travel scheme to visit temples thereby increasing its revenue. Backing up with statistics, Revanth said, "Women chose to travel to temples due to the free bus travel scheme. The endowments department’s revenue in November 2023 was Rs 49.28 crore when the scheme was not launched. In December, after the Mahalakshmi scheme was introduced, women visited temples in Yadadri, Gadwal Jogulamba, and Bhadrachalam. It is a positive indication for the State as the endowments department’s revenue collections were Rs 93.24 crore in December and Rs 68.69 crore in January 2024.”