Under flak from various quarters for not giving representation to women in his cabinet, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday announced that he would induct two women ministers. Replying to the debate on Vote-on-Account budget for 2019-20 in the Assembly, he said two women would be made ministers in the coming days.
Rao's first cabinet had not a single woman and the current cabinet also has no woman minister. Opposition parties and women's groups had criticized Rao for not inducting a single woman in the cabinet, which was expanded on Tuesday.
Ahead of the polls held in December last year, the TRS had even reduced the number of tickets to women in the 2018 elections. Just four women had been given tickets, out of which three won — former deputy Speaker Padma Devender Reddy, Ajmera Rekha and G Sunitha Reddy.
KCR, as Rao is popularly known, also told the House that the government was going for debts to complete the irrigation projects and assured that the state has the capacity to repay the loans.
He said that the state conveys its requirements to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which acts as the nodal agency for debts. He made it clear that the government did not violate Fiscal Responsbility and Budget Management (FRBM) limit and accused the opposition of resorting to false propaganda over debts.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief reiterated the need for devolution of powers to the states and alleged that the Centre was taking away their rights. "What the Centre has to do with a primary school in a state," he asked.
KCR once again underlined the need for qualitative change in the national politics. "The rulers should change themselves in tune with the needs of the people," he said.
Read:
IANS inputs