Don’t confine to AC rooms, Telangana CM tells Collectors

Hyderabad, July 16: Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday asked district Collectors not to confine themselves to the air-conditioned comforts of their offices but make field-level visits to know the people’s aspirations and make decisions with empathy.

He told the district Collectors that their every action should reflect that this is the people's government.

He was addressing a day-long conference of district Collectors at the State Secretariat.

Collectors and SPs from all 33 districts are attending the meeting which is discussing various issues including agriculture, Dharani, health, education, law and order and drug abuse.

Terming Collectors the eyes and ears of the government, the Chief Minister advised them to make decisions with a humane approach.

He advised Collectors to follow in the footsteps of eminent former IAS officers like S. R. Sankaran and Sridharan to identify people’s problems. “You should know the aspirations of people at the ground level. If you confine yourselves to AC rooms, you will also not get any satisfaction,” he said.

Revanth Reddy emphasised that pro-people governance should be delivered in a transparent manner.

He told the Collectors that they had the responsibility to implement six guarantees in a transparent manner and asked them to give people confidence that this was their government.

“You have the responsibility to ensure that the state moves forward with a balance between welfare and development,” he said.

He wanted Collectors to take responsibility for supervising the functioning of government schools and government hospitals.

Asserting that the government is spending Rs 85,000 each on poor students every month, he said the educational system was key to rebuilding Telangana. He asked them to make sure that the educational system does not suffer.

He pointed out that when some teachers of government schools were transferred, the students reacted as if they were their family members. “Your performance should be such that people feel the same way when you are transferred,” the Chief Minister said.

Stating that the Collectors have come from various states, the Chief Minister said they can serve people effectively if they integrate with the Telangana culture. “You should work by considering Telangana as your own state,” he said.

He suggested that Collectors consider a geotagging system to protect government lands from encroachments.

The Chief Minister enquired about the resolution of problems under Dharani, the integrated land records management system launched by the previous BRS government, and asked Collectors to resolve the pending issues under Dharani as early as possible.

Referring to the applications rejected under Dharani, he wanted the Collectors to take steps to inform applicants about reasons for rejecting their applications.

He suggested additional options to solve the technical problems under Dharani.

He directed the Collectors to address the applications about the pending problems under Dharani by August 15.

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, ministers, Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari and several top officials are attending the conference.