The Hindu : Front Page : Chief Minister stresses on welfare of weaker sections

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Saturday, Aug 16, 2008
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Chief Minister stresses on welfare of weaker sections

Special Correspondent

— PHOTO: P.V. SIVAKUMAR

COLOURFUL SPECTACLE: Schoolchildren perform ‘Bharateeyam’ at the Independence Day parade on Friday.

HYDERABAD: Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy has advocated that welfare schemes for weaker sections must continue till inequalities in society go completely and announced a multi-pronged strategy to remove the disparities existing between rural and urban areas.

The strategy aims at giving a thrust to rural development, health and education, while continuing the priority assigned to agriculture, industry and welfare. The strategy, which will be different from the “one-sided policy” pursued prior to 2004, will achieve integrated growth, he said in a dig at the policies of the erstwhile Telugu Desam government.

Speaking at the 62nd Independence Day celebrations at the Parade Ground here on Friday after unfurling the tricolour, Dr. Reddy said he had succeeded in removing the disparities to a large extent by launching as many as 24 welfare schemes and fulfilled all the promises he made in 2004 due to good governance, foresight and discipline.

The Chief Minister earlier inspected a guard of honour and took the salute at an impressive march-past by 22 contingents of police, home-guards and others, besides giving away medals to police and fire service personnel for distinguished service. A display of 18 tableaux by different departments and a cultural programme by schoolchildren, Bharateeyam, were the other main attractions.

Making a slew of announcements in his hour-long address, Dr. Reddy declared that water would be supplied for irrigating an additional 1,000 acres everyday so that a total of 15 lakh acres were brought under the plough through Jalayagnam.

Dr. Reddy said he proposed to constitute a trust by pooling in all the funds earmarked for the SCs and STs in order to implement their schemes more effectively and set up one university in every district. Referring to the initiatives in the agriculture sector, he said these had helped the State achieve an economic growth rate of 10.6 per cent. He said the Supreme Court’s order on four per cent reservations for Muslims was “a slap” on the critics of this welfare measure.

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