Go cashless, Kcr tells telangana lawmaKers
The CM is expected to introduce orientation classes for leaders and MLAs on how to use online banking and various money apps.
Telangana Today, a new English daily, has been launched from Friday by the Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao-controlled Telangana Publications Private Limited (TPPL), based in Hyderabad.
KCR had already launched a Telugu daily, Namaste Telangana, which played a major role in the struggle for a separate Telangana.
TPPL is directly supervised and managed by KCR’s trusted lieutenant and ruling TRS leader Divakonda Damodar Rao, who is also a chartered accountant.
Both Telugu and English-language newspapers are run from the same compound in the Banjara Hills area of the city. KCR also launched a Telugu TV channel, T News, which is being run from his Telangana Bhawan, the TRS headquarters, for the last five years.
KCR after becoming the CM, however, has distanced himself from the day to day affairs of the media organisations. T News is looked after by his nephew Santosh Kumar. It is currently a leading Telugu channel in Telangana. Namaste Telangana is a leading daily newspaper in the state.
Both Namaste Telangana and T News are known to further KCR’s viewpoints and public policies and gain approval for the same from the common man.
In his first page signed editorial in Telangana Today, Damodar Rao said that the English language newspaper would “symbolise the essence of India’s newest state and all that it stands for—going local to global, vibrant, responsive, modern and yet retaining the old-world charm that the city of minarets (Hyderabad) is known for”.
Damodar Rao also said that Telangana Today seems to position itself as the vox populi of Telangana without losing sight of regional, national and international happenings. As if to mirror its neutral stand, Telangana Today’s main edition came without a single photograph of either CM KCR or any of his top leaders on the first day. K Srinivas Reddy is the editor.
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has advised his Cabinet ministers to be prepared to fight future elections in the cashless mode. “Whether or not you like it, you are going to see less and less cash, be ready to face it,” he told them, according to reliable sources who interacted with the CM.
A few ministers who spoke to The Sunday Guardian on the lobbies of the Telangana Assembly which began its two-week long winter ses- Principal district and sessions Judge of Budgam in Central Kashmir on Thursday sentenced Kamal Jeet Singh alias Rinku, resident of Beerwah Budgam, to rigorous imprisonment for kidnapping and murdering two minor girls in the area in 2002. The accused had confessed in custody that on 3 October 2002 he had kidnapped the two girls, confined them wrongfully in an abandoned house, raped them and then killed them. In 2002, Budgam witnessed a lot of protests over the matter. Civil society in Kashmir, especially women activists, hailed the order. sion on Friday, said many ministers and TRS MLAs were not sure of the impact of demonetisation. When they expressed their woes to the CM, he counselled them on the subject.
“When I asked Sir (CM) how I could fight the next elections if there is no cash to distribute to the public who expect some money from the leading party contestants, he said we should be ready to fight elections like in the US, where every candidate explains their manifestos and policies and people decide the best among them,” said a minister from Secunder- abad, preferring anonymity.
The minister, who is in the public life for over two decades, however, confessed that he spent around Rs 10 crore for an election two years ago, which is several times the amount stipulated by the poll panel. “It is a fact. Without distributing big currency notes, sometimes it is difficult to get votes,” he said.
This minister who rose from humble beginnings is popular in his area where a large number of poor and lower middle class people live as he has offered financial help to the needy. “Many times, people come to me with wedding cards and I offer them cash of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. But how can I do it now if I have no cash in my hand?” the minister asked.
A few other ministers voiced their doubt before the CM on the likely impact of demonetisation. KCR told them that they better prepare to switch to a new lifestyle where everyone will have to use more electronic money, mobile banking and apps.
As of now, most of the ministers don’t know how to use a mobile app or net banking. Nine out of the total 18 members in the Cabinet don’t have credit cards and some of them have never used their debit cards. KCR’s son and IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao and Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao are in the forefront of switching over to the electronic transaction mode. Harish Rao, in fact, has taken up the responsibility of making his Assembly constituency Siddipet as cashless within a year. Harish told this newspaper that “We have no other go but to switch over to cashless economy”.
“There are some quick learners and some late learners. We are planning to introduce orientation classes for all our leaders including MLAs on going cashless. The CM will announce the details of the classes,” said a government whip who wished not be quoted while talking to this newspaper. KCR who made a statement in the Assembly on the impact of demonetisation on the state on Friday said that he told the PM last month that going 100% cashless may not be possible in the near future, but managing with less cash is possible.