The Telangana government has decided to implement 10 per cent reservation to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in the state, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao announced on Thursday.

He said a high-level review meeting will be held in the next two to three days on the matter and appropriate orders will be issued.

“There is a need to implement 10 per cent reservation in jobs and education to those economically weaker classes. We have decided to implement 10 per cent reservations to the EWS while continuing the reservations to those who are already enjoying the benefit as it is,” he said.

“As on date in the state, 50 per cent reservations are being implemented to the weaker sections. With 10 per cent reservations to the EWS, the reservation percentage will be 60 per cent,” he added.

It was in 2019 that the Centre had announced 10 per cent quota for EWS but the Telangana government had not taken a decision to implement it in the state.

The Narendra Modi government had told the Supreme Court early this month that the decision to implement the 10 per cent quota for the economically weak sections in states lie with the state governments.

The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment stated this in response to a petition seeking the implementation of the quota in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

The Telangana legislature in 2017 had already passed a bill enhancing Reservation for Muslims from four per cent to 12 per cent and for Scheduled Tribes (STs) from six per cent to 10 per cent.

The state had requested the Centre to amend the Constitution to relax 50 per cent upper limit for quota to all sections as prescribed by the Supreme Court. Despite repeated demands by the Chief Minister, the Centre did not agree to the proposal.

The coronavirus pandemic, its impact on Telangana’s finances, challenges faced by the TRS government on various fronts, floods in Hyderabad and BJP’s emergence as the main opposition party marked 2020 in Telangana.

Like in other states of the country and other parts of the world, Covid dominated everything else during the year. Its impact on the state’s revenues also created a host of problems for the state.

One of the first states to report Covid-19 cases, Telangana did well to keep the situation under control. The state initially came under flak from public health experts and also faced ire of the state high court on several occasions for fewer testing. However, the authorities later ramped up testing and also took effective steps.

Health Minister Eatala Rajender claimed that Telangana was the first state in the country to announce lockdown and it was also the first state to alert the Centre over the spread of virus by the Tabilighi Jamaat conclave in Delhi.

After the public uproar over exploitation of pandemic situation by the corporate hospitals, the government stepped in to fix the tariff both for the Covid diagnosis and treatment.

The state government also claimed to have set an example for others by making all arrangements to send back migrant labourers to their respective states by special trains. The state government footed the bill for the same.

Hyderabad, known as the bulk drug capital of India, was also in the news for manufacturing of lifesaving Covid-19 drugs like Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquine and Favipiravir by some of the top pharma companies based here.

Subsequently, the city also described as the vaccine capital of the world, hit the headlines for the development of vaccines for Covid-19. At least four companies based here are developing Covid vaccines. Bharat Biotech is working on India’s first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin.

Another city-based firm Biological E last month initiated a clinical trial of its subunit vaccine candidate in India following approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI).

BE is making the vaccine in collaboration with Dynavax Technologies Corporation (Dynavax), a US-based vaccine focused biopharmaceutical company, and Baylor College of Medicine, a health sciences university in Houston.

Envoys of over 60 countries also visited the facilities of the two companies early this month. The visit was organised by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and it was part of India’s efforts to develop partnerships for the manufacture and delivery of vaccines.

In October, Hyderabad saw one of the worst floods in the city’s history due to heavy rainfall. At least 50 people were killed in and around the city. Hundreds of colonies were inundated.

The TRS government came under criticism from opposition for its failure to handle floods but the government defended itself saying there is no city in the country which is not affected by floods.

Telangana also claimed to be the only state in the country to provide financial assistance of Rs10,000 each to all the families affected. The government has so far spent over Rs 600 crore for distributing the assistance among 6.64 lakh families.

The state’s relations with the Centre also came under strain with Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao alleging that the state received no funds from the Centre for tackling the pandemic and for relief and rehabilitation in the flood-affected Hyderabad. He also slammed the Centre for not coming forward to help the states facing financial problems due to the pandemic.

A war of words also broke out between the TRS and the BJP leaders over the Central funds. While the BJP leaders claimed the Centre provided funds for the state’s schemes, the TRS countered saying the state contributed much more to the Centre in the form of taxes than what it received.

The ruling party faced toughest challenges since the formation of the Telangana state in 2014. The BJP emerged as the main opposition party with its victory in the Dubbak Assembly bypoll and impressive performance in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections.

Despite the impact of pandemic on its economy, the state continued implementation of various welfare schemes. It set up purchasing centres in villages to buy paddy and maize from farmers to ensure that they don’t suffer losses during the pandemic.

The state also continued to attract the investment despite the challenges. Several firms, including marquee names announced investments of over Rs 30,000 crore over the last six months.

The state also took initiatives to expand information technology to tier-II cities. Within Hyderabad, the government took measures to disperse IT growth beyond the clusters of Hitec City and Gachibowli.

Under its ambitious plans to take IT growth to all corners of the city, the government announced GRID (Growth in Dispersion) policy. Authorities issued orders to convert as many as 11 industrial parks into IT parks.

Telangana clocked over Rs 1.28 lakh crore of IT exports during 2019-20, a growth of nearly 18 per cent over the previous year. This growth was registered despite the onset of the Covid-19 during the last quarter of 2019-2020.

The growth rate was more than double the national average of 8.09 per cent and more than two-and-a-half times the rest of the nation’s average of 6.92 per cent.

The number of jobs in the IT sector in the state went up from 5,43,033 to 5,82,126, a growth of 7.20 per cent compared to national average of 4.93 per cent.

The year saw no major law and order problems. However, Maoists continued their attempts to revive their activities in the districts bordering Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. They tried to regroup themselves by taking advantage of the pandemic situation.

In September and October, 10 Maoists were killed in separate exchanges of gunfight with police. Most of the killings happened in Bhadradri Kothagudem district bordering Chhattisgarh.

Maoists also killed a worker of the ruling TRS and a couple of others branding them as police informers.

The state also brought a new Revenue Act to usher in a new era of land transactions. Dharani portal was launched as a one stop solution for all land related transactions. The aim was to provide a transparent and corruption free system.

The registration process was stopped to ensure smooth transition to the new system. Though registration of the agricultural land resumed in October in a smooth manner, the process for non-agricultural properties was delayed. The government had to revert to the old system after the high court ruled that the government can’t insist that the applicants submit their Aadhaar card details. The hiccups dented the state’s revenues.

The Land regularisation Scheme (LRS) scheme announced by the government also evoked criticism with the opposition targeting the government for trying to fill the coffers by burdening people during the pandemic.

The government also came under attack for demolition of the old secretariat to construct a new building during the pandemic .

As one of the 10 buildings in the complex was heritage structure built in 1888 the demolition was strongly opposed by groups working for heritage conservation. Demolition of two mosques and one temple in the secretariat premises also triggered an outrage.

Strong reaction by Muslim groups forced the government to announce that the place of worship will be rebuilt. For the first time in six years, the TRS came under sharpest attack from the Muslim groups, who lodged their protest over the government organizing birth centenary celebrations of former Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao.

Earlier this year, the KCR government was hailed by the community when the state legislature passed a resolution opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Population Register (NPR), and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Chandrasekhar Rao stated that the CAA and the other two processes are methods being used to ‘tinker with the inclusive and non-religious nature of the citizenship.

The year also saw the end of the bonhomie witnessed between the Telangana and the Andhra Pradesh governments since May 2019 when YSR Congress Party stormed to power in the neighbouring states. They accused each other of building illegal projects over the Godavari and Krishna rivers and sought the Centre’s intervention.

The year saw Hyderabad Metro Rail becoming the second largest metro rail network in the country with 69.2 km operational distance when the stretch from Jubilee Bus Station (JBS) to Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS) was thrown open.

With the emergence of the BJP as the real opposition party in Telangana, new challenges await the TRS government which completed two years in its second term on Sunday.

The saffron surge, evident from BJP’s recent electoral victories, has overshadowed the celebrations in Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) camp.

In fact, the second anniversary came close on the heels of the BJP putting up an impressive show in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections to win 48 seats in 150-member municipal body, pushing the TRS down to 56 seats from a whopping 99 it won in 2016. The BJP was then almost non-existent with just two seats in its kitty.

The fractured verdict in GHMC polls came barely a few days after the shocking defeat for the TRS in by-election to Dubbak Assembly seat, which the BJP wrested from it.

The first defeat for the TRS in a by-election since formation of Telangana state, signalled the emergence of BJP as an alternative. The GHMC poll results came as another shot in the arm for the BJP, which now sees a realistic chance of coming to power in 2023.

In 2014, the K. Chandrasekhar Rao-led TRS secured simple majority with 63 seats in 119-member Assembly. After successfully achieving the goal of Telangana state, he embarked on the mission to rebuild the country’s youngest state.

By luring top leaders from opposition parties to TRS camp, he considerably weakened the Congress and nearly decimated the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

With considerable progress made in realizing the vision of ‘Bangaru Telangana’ or golden Telangana, a confident KCR went for early polls. His gamble paid off as the TRS retained power with a landslide victory, winning 88 seats.

Not stopping at that, KCR went all out to eliminate the opposition Congress. A dozen out of 19 Congress MLAs defected to the TRS. Congress lost the status of even the main opposition party. However, the analysts believe that this strategy is now proving costly for him as in the absence of strong opposition alternatives, the anti-establishment votes have begun to consolidate under the BJP.

“KCR got lesser mandate but bigger authority in the first term. As he went on absorbing all and sundry, his mandate turned bigger and so also the challenges to his regime, mainly due to mistakes and shortcomings of his own making,” says political observer Telkapalli Ravi.

“KCR had a smooth run between 2014 and 2018, and he was able to rake up sentiments among the people that his detractors were equivalent to those who are anti-Telangana. However, that honeymoon period is over now, and people of Telangana are expecting visible development in the state,” said analyst P. Raghavendra Reddy

“Political actions of KCR between 2014 and 2019 led to the downfall of Congress in Telangana, which resulted in consolidation of the anti-TRS vote in favour of the BJP. And this is now the biggest challenge before KCR to overcome, in addition to great expectations people have from his government,” said Reddy.

Often criticized by his opponents for his “authoritarian” attitude, KCR also came under flak for promoting his own family.

In fact, he received the first jolt only a few months after retaining power with massive majority. In the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP not only retained its lone seat but also wrested three other seats from TRS. This included Nizamabad where KCR’s daughter K. Kavitha had to taste defeat.

She recently returned to active politics after getting elected to state Legislative Council. KCR already has his son K.T. Rama Rao as a cabinet minister holding several key portfolios and Working President of the TRS. He is seen as KCR’s heir apparent. KCR’s nephew T. Harish Rao is the Finance Minister.

“Apparently, unilateralism and family presence undermined moral legitimacy. Problems like Covid and floods and the BJP targeting the government with communal card has created new challenges,” said Ravi.

KCR’s flip-flop in his dealing with Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre also led to many eyebrows being raised in the political circles.

On the eve of 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he floated the idea of Federal Front as an alternative to both BJP and Congress. It proved a non-starter with BJP retaining power at the Centre with huge majority.

Just before the GHMC elections, he revived the idea. This time he announced that he will bring together like-minded parties on a common platform to take on the BJP. Many took this with a pinch of salt.

It was in 2018 that KCR had announced his plans to build an alternative to the Congress and the BJP to take the country on the path of development and progress. Political observers say speaking about a new alliance only at the time of elections will yield no gains.

With over 100 seats in the Assembly, KCR may be sitting pretty to complete the term but with BJP adopting aggressive posture following its recent electoral victories, he is likely to have tough times ahead.

“Challenges before KCR and the ruling TRS are mounting by the day. People want the promises made during the agitation for Telangana movement to be fulfilled at the earliest. The youth of Telangana expected more number of jobs, as promised, in separate State, which this regime failed to fulfil,” said Reddy.

On its part, the TRS government says it continued its focus on welfare and development schemes to make Telangana a trendsetter and a role model for the entire country.

It fulfilled the electoral promises like increasing the crop investment support to farmers to farmers under Rythu Bandhu scheme from Rs 8,000 per acre to Rs 10,000 per acre and loan waiver for loans of less than one lakh rupees.

KCR inaugurated Kaleswaram project which is expected to make the state fertile, providing water for irrigation, drinking water and industrial purposes.

The government introduced regulated farming to ensure that farmers grow the crops which have demand in the market.

It brought reforms in the revenue system with a new Revenue Act. Dharani website was launched for online registration of agricultural and non-agricultural properties.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday hinted at the possibility of second international airport near Siddipet in addition to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad on outskirts of Hyderabad.

He said that Siddipet is a very dynamic place and is in very close vicinity to capital city. “In future, within boundaries of Siddipet district, we can expect another international airport to come up,” he said after laying the foundation stone for Information Technology Tower at Duddeda village in Kondapak mandal of Siddipet.

This is not the first time KCR spoke about the need for more international airports.

After formation of the Telangana state in 2014, he had said Hyderabad will require at least two more airports in the near future as the city’s population is expected to touch three crore with the development of the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR).

“Hyderabad’s population in 2014 is 94 lakh. We are soon to develop a Rs 2.30 lakh crore ITIR that will create two more Hyderabads and the population will shoot up to three crore. So, we will require at least two more airports to the east and north of the city to cater to the additional population,” he had said.

However, ITIR was later shelved by the Central government.

In his brief remarks on the occasion of laying foundation stone of IT Park, KCR said this will facilitate development of Siddipet on all fronts.

The IT Park is coming at a cost of Rs 45 crore in sprawling 3 acres with 60,000 square feet office space. On this occasion, four IT companies from the US exchanged MoUs with the state government to set up their offices in the IT Park.

KCR on Thursday laid foundation stone and inaugurated several development works in the Siddipet Assembly constituency, which he once represented.

The CM inaugurated Rythu Vedika at Mittapally near Siddipet, which was constructed at a cost of Rs 22 lakh.

He also inaugurated Government Medical College, which was constructed at a cost of Rs 715 crore, and laid the foundation stone for a 1,000-bedded Government Hospital.

The CM inaugurated 2,460 double bed room housing complex in Siddipet which was constructed at a cost of Rs 145 crore.

Addressing a public meeting, KCR spoke about his association with Siddipet and the role the constituency played in making Telangana state a reality.

KCR, who represented Siddipet constituency from 1985 to 2004, remarked that there is no KCR without Siddipet and no Telangana without KCR.

He recalled that when he was elected from both Karimnagar Lok Sabha and Siddipet Assembly seats in 2004, he had to quit as MLA with a heavy heart as he had to move to Delhi to fight for Telangana state.

Stating that there is something special about Siddipet, the Chief Minister said he lived up to people’s expectations by delivering Telangana state. He said he was also happy that he gave to people of Siddipet an able leader like Harish Rao.

Harish Rao, who is nephew of KCR, has been representing Siddipet since 2014.

KCR said he was happy to see tremendous development Siddipet has seen under Harish Rao’s leadership.