On a Mission, TS seeks 24,000 cr

Centre asked to release funds early

The TS government has sought `24,000 crore for Mission Bhagiratha and Mission Kakatiya, its flagship programmes, from the Centre. Of this, `19,000 crore assistance is for Mission Bhagiratha which aims to provide tap water to every home in the state and `5,000 crore is for Mission Kakatiya, the project to revive water tanks.

Principal Secretary, Planning B.P. Acharya, along with Principal Secretary, Irrigation, S.K. Joshi and other senior officials made a PowerPoint presentation to representatives of NITI Aayog who were deputed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a request by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

NITI Aayog advisor A.K. Jain, deputy advisor P.K. Jha and his team who saw the PowerPoint presentation were all praise for the state govern- ment’s initiatives.

They told the TS officials that CMs of all states have been informed about the schemes.

“We made a detailed presentation of both the schemes. The NITI Aayog representatives appreciated it. We sought Central assistance to which they said they would apprise the Centre,” Mr Acharya said.

Phase-I of Mission Kakatiya has been completed and PhaseII, which will provide water for drinking, irrigation, fisheries and other purposes, was recently taken up.

In Phase-I of Mis- sion Bhagiratha, from April to June this year, 2,022 habitations in nine Assembly constituencies will be provided tap water.

Mr Joshi later said that the TS government would spend `11,500 crore, `2,000 crore would be Nabard’s contribution, `1,500 crore from Centre RRR. “We sought `5,000 crore aid from Centre,” he said.

Irrigation minister T. Harish Rao, who participated in the meeting convened by Union Water Resources ministry in New Delhi, requested release of first instalment by May 15.