‘There are financial constraints, but I am definitely going to implement all the promises made to the people.’

The Congress government has completed 11 months of its tenure and how do you assess the performance in terms of promises made and fulfilled so far?

My assessment is that if I were to personally judge my work I would call it a scoring distinction. My first major achievement is loan waiver of ₹18,000 crore to eligible farmers and the money was credited in less than 25 days. As promised, our government has been successful in filling 50,000 government jobs within 10 months.

Free bus travel for women is another important achievement of my government, where women took more than one crore journeys for free and they saved ₹3,500 crore. The work of providing free electricity up to 200 units to households is also on track. We have increased the Rajiv Aarogyasri health coverage limit to ₹10 lakh per person. Inviting investments, announcing new policies, setting up skills and sports universities, integrated Young India residential schools in every constituency, promotion of 21,000 teachers in one go and transfer of 35,000 teachers. No small feat for any government. Is.

Where do you think the government is lagging behind in reaching out to the people?

When former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao left office, he made a bluff by saying that the state had a debt of Rs 3-4 lakh crore. But, we realized that the total debt was more than ₹7 lakh crore. Yes, there are financial constraints, but I am definitely going to implement all the promises that have been made to the people.

What benefit is the government going to get from the ongoing socio-economic survey? India’s eyes are on Telangana on caste survey. How is this survey different from the survey conducted by the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government?

The survey conducted by the BRS (erstwhile TRS) government was a 12-hour exercise. The findings of the survey were never made public. No one knows what happened to the data. Former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao did not disclose this. As a Chief Minister, even I do not know where the data is available. Nothing was disclosed and now its value has gone to zero.

Our survey is a 360-degree scan and X-ray and is like a mega health checkup. I will have all the data of people, about their caste, creed, religion and employment, whether they are politically empowered or not. We want to distribute funds based on this survey. Quota for OBC will also be increased.

There are speculations about the population of each caste, I want to put a complete stop to such claims by getting accurate figures and this is our responsibility as well as a moral objective. Survey is useful for everyone. The data will be important for welfare and developmental programmes. The most important aspect is that we will keep the document in the public domain. We are going to present the data in the Assembly and in all probability the winter session will start from December 9. Respecting the data privacy policy, personal information will be confidential and will not be disclosed at any cost. Personal and sensitive details will not find a place in the public domain. Other general information will be presented in the Legislature.

An interesting column that has been added to the survey is the political affiliation and engagement of the individual household. What does this mean for the government?

Our intention is to know whether he has got political opportunities. If someone is not willing to share information then there is no pressure on him. Even the courts have made it clear that mandatory information collection should not be insisted upon. We want to collect more accurate information.

Will these figures form the basis of the government’s road map for welfare and developmental programmes?

This will not only be a road map for welfare and development. This will also help us in increasing the OBC quota. The Supreme Court is insisting on accurate data to break the 50% reservation barrier. Unless you have accurate data, our goal of increasing reservations for BC will not be achieved. We want to make caste survey a parameter for increasing reservation and budget. OBCs form the largest section of the population and every state has its own distinct caste structure. The Rajka (washerman) community is a backward class in Telangana but an SC in Karnataka. Similarly, Mudiraj is classified as BC here but is under SC category in UP. Also, Lambadas are ST in Telangana but BC in Maharashtra. The information collected will reveal these differences. We want to improve the lives of SC, ST and BC.

Rahul Gandhi has described the ongoing caste survey in the country as a role model for the country. How will the government deal with the publicity that has been made about this?

Yes, Rahul Gandhi has appreciated our efforts. Meticulous efforts to collect data through appropriate formats impressed him. The Bihar government had conducted the caste census but the High Court had canceled it. Similarly, Karnataka’s exercise has also not been completed as they are not collecting all the details. The approach varies in these circumstances. We have involved officials from the Planning Department and taken the services of more than 85,000 government employees and deputed 8500 officers to monitor the entire exercise. All these steps have impressed Shri Gandhi.

BJP and BRS have not responded to your challenge and are silent on the caste survey. What is your take on that?

My simple and straightforward one line answer to BJP is: Has Prime Minister Narendra Modi legally converted to BC caste. Till he was the CM, his community was in the upper caste. But, when he became the CM of Gujarat, he became BC. And, now BJP also wants to follow the same line by claiming that he is BC. BRS also has no policy on caste survey, hence they are silent. While the country is going to conduct national census from 2025, we have already started it.

The allegation is that as a politician and administrator you are trying to erase KCR from the map of Telangana.

BRS is a leaderless party. seeing is believing. His presence is zero. He is not even participating in the assembly, the highest democratic body. The Congress party lost three general elections from 2014 to 2024, but Rahul Gandhi continued to meet people and agitate for the interests of the people. Where has KCR been in the last 10 months? He is nowhere to be seen. How can we recognize him? BRS has no party president or any floor leader.

Are you trying to show that there is a leadership crisis in BRS?

The day-to-day criticism against us by BRS working presidents KT Rama Rao and Harish Rao is not from the people but due to internal strife for the chair as they realize that KCR’s chair is open for capture. You see, the competing tweets or issues raised by him are to remain relevant for that chair and not for the people.

So will neither KCR nor his party be your main rivals in the next elections?

It is too early to say anything like this right now.

Lack of finance is a major concern and the government is struggling to raise funds to continue ongoing programmes. What are you planning to overcome this serious problem?

This is an issue I am working hard to deal with. The financial mess created by the KCR government is unimaginable. Despite spending ₹1 lakh crore on Kaleshwaram, its usefulness is in question. No one knows its future. I will not make mistakes like KCR. And that is why welfare schemes are being run. I am using every single rupee for development. Normally a new Chief Minister implements the policies of the previous Chief Minister. But I have controlled the abuse.