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Updated: Oct 04, 2019 19:49 IST

Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday appealed to the Centre to release Rs 24,205 crore for the two flagship schemes of the state government – Mission Kakatiya and Mission Bhagiratha as per the recommendations of NITI Aayog.

The Telangana chief minister submitted a charter of 22 demands to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi in the evening. This is for the first time that KCR, as the chief minister is popularly known, met PM Modi after the latter took over as the Prime Minister for the second consecutive term on May 30.

It was also after a gap of nine months that the Telangana chief minister met the Prime Minister. The last time the meeting took place was on December 26, two weeks after KCR won the elections in the state for a second term.

KCR reminded the Prime Minister that NITI Aayog had recommended a grant of Rs 5,000 crore for Mission Kakatiya (restoration of defunct irrigation tanks) and Rs 19,205 crore for Mission Bhagiratha (a scheme to provide drinking water to every household in the state).

“The chief minister appealed to the Prime Minister to release the amount at the earliest,” an official spokesperson of the chief minister’s office said.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi president requested the Centre to immediately release Rs 450 crore due to the state towards the fifth instalment of assistance for backward districts in Telangana as per the AP State Reorganisation Act, 2014.

The chief minister also asked the Prime Minister to take up enactment of a legislation in Parliament removing the cap of 50 per cent reservations in education and employment, so that the quota for OBCs, including minorities, be increased.

KCR proposed to provide a reservation of 37 per cent to OBCs (including 12 per cent to minorities), 15 per cent to SCs and 10 per cent to STs.

He requested that the Centre approve 33 per cent reservation for OBCs and women in Parliament and state legislatures. Besides, he wanted approval of the Centre for sub-categorisation of SCs in Telangana.

The other demands put forth by the chief minister in his representation include: revival of Cement Corporation of India in Adilabad, enhancement of number of judges in Telangana high court from 24 to 42; establishment of IIMs, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), National Institute of Design, and 23 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas; sanction of pending railway projects in Telangana; a steel plant at Bayyaram in Khammam; release of funds for National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) at Zaheerabad; development of Hyderabad – Nagpur & Warangal-Hyderabad Industrial Corridors etc.

The chief minister also met Home Minister Amit Shah and Union defence minister Rajnath Singh to discuss pending issues in the state, the official spokesperson said.