Following apprehensions expressed in some quarters in&nbsp;&nbsp;the implementation, the government has decided to conduct the Racha Banda programme in all the districts and mandals as scheduled from January 24 to February 12 as announced earlier by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy.
Reiterating his resolve, the Chief Minister further held a video conference at the Secretariat on Tuesday with all the district Collectors and issued his directive for the successful conduct of the Racha Banda programme which was one of the pet schemes of former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy.
The programme calls for a meeting of all village level farmers or beneficiaries to assemble at a common platform called in the villagers' parlance as 'Racha Banda' with a chance for all concerned to express their grievances and to take decisions on the spot by rulers to benefit the poor.
Instructing the district Collectors, the Chief Minister specifically told them to work for the success of the programme which will facilitate the government to announce and decide on certain crucial issues like issue of ration cards, disbursement of pensions, among others.
Delivery of housing loans under Indiramma Housing and payment up to basement level construction to the beneficiaries will also be part of the programme.
The issue of white ration cards to over 5 lakh poor and to identify families apart, Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy asked the Collectors to begin scrutinising the applications for pensions.
The issues of enrolling 4.37 crore beneficiaries under the Abhaya Hastham, to increase wages of labour working under MG NREGS from Rs 100 per day to Rs 120 per day and to increase the number of days from 100 days to 125 days were also discussed.
The Chief Minister directed the officials to clear loans under IKP for SHGS to the extent of over Rs 4 crore.&nbsp;&nbsp;

General News

CM firm on 'Racha Banda' success

Recalling the services of party founder N T Rama Rao to Telugu people, Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday demanded that the Centre bestow the Bharat Ratna, the highest Civilian Award of the country, to the former chief minister for his contributions to the state, particularly film industry.&nbsp;The TDP president also called upon party rank and file to follow his footsteps to come up in life.
Talking to media persons at NTR Ghat after paying rich floral tributes to the founder of the Telugu Desam party on the occasion of his 15th death anniversary, Mr Naidu said NTR had created a new wave in the politics of state with his commitment to work towards uplifting backward and poor people.&nbsp;Mr Naidu arrived at the NTRS Ghats with his wife Bhuvaneshwari Devi and son Lokesh Naidu
Remembering his services to film industry, Naidu said &ldquo;No one can forget his services to Telugu cinema industry and his life history is a role model and inspiration to future generations.&rdquo;&nbsp;Mr Naidu also urged the state government to rename the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad as NTR International Airport.
Earlier, the TDP president flagged off Amar Jyothi after paying floral tributes at the NTR Statue at Rasoolpura Crossroads.&nbsp;Speaking on the occasion, NTR&rsquo;s son Nandamuri Harikrishna called upon party workers to work for fulfilling the late leader&rsquo;s dreams.
Mr Harikrishna also charged the Congress government of has mortgaging the Telugu people&rsquo;s pride and alleged that suicides of farmers have increased during its stint in power.
Actors Kalyan Ram, Ramakrishna and Jayakrishna were also present, apart from senior TDP leaders Devender Goud, Vijaya Ramarao, T Srinivas Yadav, Nannapuneni Rajakumari.
Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development d D Purandareswari and her husband D Venkateswar Rao also paid tributes to NTR and recalled his services to the nation. She said that her father&rsquo;s ideals of discipline and commitment to work were followed by her and have made her come up in life.&nbsp;After paying rich floral tributes, NTR&rsquo;s widow Lakshmi Parvathi blamed TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu for his death.

Naidu demands Bharat Ratna for NTR

BCCI few minutes ago announced the Indian Cricket Team of 15 Players for the World Cup 2011 that is to held in Indian Sub-Continent from February 19. Although below is the team, names of Rohit Sharma, Pragnyan Ojha, Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma failed to make into final 15 as selectors offered more of importance to spinners Piyush Chawla, R. Ashwin and all rounder Yusuf Pathan, given the kind of spinning pitches in this part of World.
As said by chif selector Kris Srikkanth, this one looks like a dream team which has that capability to win the cup and create history.&nbsp;
1. M S Dhoni [Captain &amp; Wicket Keeper]
2. Zaheer Khan
3. Munaf Patel
4. Ashish Nehra
5. R Ashwin
6. Harbhajan Singh
7. Yusuf Pathan
8. Sachin Tendulkar
9. Virender Sehwag
10. Praveen Kumar
11. Gautam Gambhir
12. Piyush Chawla
13. Virat Kohli
14. Suresh Raina
15. Yuvraj Singh
&nbsp;

Indian Cricket Squad for World Cup 2011

Gangula Bhanumathi, widow of Maddelacheruvu Suryanarayana alias Suri alleged that Paritala Sunitha, her elder son Sri Ramulayya, Vallabhaneni Vamsi, Bhanu Kiran, Chandra Babu Naidu nexus was responsible for the murder of her husband. Attending before a section of media, Bhanumathi alleged that the assassination of her husband was a well sketched plan by the above five. &nbsp;
She demanded Naidu to own up moral responsibility in Suri&rsquo;s killing and also get ready for a CBI enquiry. Although prime suspect is Bhanu in the total case, Bhanumathi doubted why are police showing more interest in getting knowledge about the properties rather than arresting him. &nbsp;
Mean while, TDP leaders lashed out at Bhanumathi for making baseless and irresponsible allegations against Naidu warning Bhanumathi to stop making such allegations else the Dark Empire of Suri and his antisocial activities will be kept before media.

CM firm on 'Racha Banda' success

CM firm on 'Racha Banda' success

CM firm on 'Racha Banda' success

Naidu demands Bharat Ratna for NTR

Naidu demands Bharat Ratna for NTR

Naidu demands Bharat Ratna for NTR

Indian Cricket Squad for World Cup 2011

Indian Cricket Squad for World Cup 2011

Indian Cricket Squad for World Cup 2011

Indian Cricket Squad for World Cup 2011

Is Naidu behind Suri's muder?

Is Naidu behind Suri's muder?