Hyderabad, September 23: Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday sought to ally the fears of industry representatives on the possible revival of Naxal movement in a separate Telangana State, citing opportunities for development and efficient administration in a smaller State.
“Since development and improvement of weaker sections are not mutually exclusive and on the contrary, are complementary in nature, social unrest, which leads to such movements, is not a possibility,” he said. Addressing a conference organised by the International Market Assessment (IMA), a forum for industry professionals, the separatist leader pointed out that administration in a smaller State would be easier and efficient enough to tackle any law and order situation.
TRS ideologue Prof Jayashankar, who also attended the conference, intervened now and then to support Rao. He recalled how the Naxal movement, which gained momentum in Jagtiyal, Karimnagar district in the 1970s, subsided once the Sriram Sagar project was executed.
He told the audience that even if they had some apprehensions, they wouldn’t and shouldn’t hinder industrial progress in smaller States. He cited the examples of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand where despite law and order problems, industrial development was going on at a brisk pace.The meeting, which lasted for over two hours, raised eyebrows since neither the CII nor the FICCI was involved. With the word going around that the meeting was organised at the behest of the TRS, the party leaders issued a clarification that they had attended it as guests on invitation. Though the TRS claimed that over 100 CEOs attended the conference, it was reliably learnt the number did not exceed 30.
During the course of the conference, Chandrasekhar Rao rolled out the red carpet for companies like DuPont, Bank of America, GVK Bio, Matrix Labs, Ballarpur Industries and Apollo Hospitals, assuring them that the industrial policy of the new State, apart from helping them in wealth creation, would simultaneously ensure percolation of the fruits of development to the under privileged.
The TRS chief reportedly was non-committal when some asked what if there was delay in Telangana State formation.
“Political parties and people will decide on the future course of action. The TRS will have to play its role,” he said.
Jayashankar, his son and MLA K T Rama Rao, party leaders Etela Rajender and Dr Sravan Dasoju were among those who attended the meet. Rama Rao gave a power-point presentation on his party’s vision for a new State and said he had no doubt on the scope for industrial development in Telangana and assured the participants that the new State would act in accordance with the aspirations of its people.
The CEOs’ questions ranged from development of industry in the new state to fears of inclement industrial weather in smaller states. They also wanted to know which of the two new states – Telangana and Andhra – would have faster economic development and if Telangana lags behind in the race, how the TRS could cope with the situation. They also voiced apprehensions over the continuing trouble in the State for and against bifurcation.
“What we basically require is an industry-friendly climate that can offer ample quality manpower and infrastructure.
As long as these factors are available, industry will develop be it in Telangana or Coastal Andhra,” said the head of an IT company. CEO of an infrastructure firm said the conference was attended not only by industry representatives from the city, but also from companies looking at investments in AP.
Both Rao and Prof Jayashankar underscored the potential of Hyderabad as an investment destination citing the infrastructure that is in place.
“Though Telangana lacks the advantage of a coastline, it will more than make up for it with its industry-friendly policies but the objective will be to eliminate poverty and raise the living standards of the people.” The TRS leaders assured the industry honcos that focus would be on accelerating industrial expansion around Hyderabad by creating industrial zones, satellite townships within a radius of 100 km. They emphasized that Telangana would leverage the dominant position that Hyderabad had in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry to develop it as the next global hub of pharmaceuticals.
They also said exclusive chemical and pharma zones were in the offing besides industrial hubs, business-friendly tax structure and labour laws as growth enablers.
–Agencies