Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has sought the cooperation of government employees in making the State a US $ 1 trillion economy by 2034 and USB $ 3 trillion by 2047, contributing 10 per cent of the country’s GDP at that point in time.

Telangana State, with 2.6 per cent of the country’s population, was contributing five per cent of the GDP, and the government has firmed up plans to make it 10 per cent over the next 20 years. This will be possible with the active support of the employees who are delivering welfare schemes effectively to the last mile.

“I am not asking for anything more. Spare an extra hour every day so that revenue increases. This will be possible by plugging leakages and checking corrupt elements that were encouraged by the previous Government,” he said. The Chief Minister was speaking at a meeting organised on Thursday to sign a memorandum of understanding with insurance companies for providing insurance cover to all the Government staff.

He recalled how the previous government's indiscriminate borrowing was imposing a heavy burden on the present government, which had spent close to ₹ 2 lakh crore on debt servicing in the 30 months after taking charge. “The previous government borrowed at exorbitant interest rates of over 11 per cent and destroyed systems. Staff were not paid salaries in time and even the payments were made in installments,” he said.

The Congress government had taken steps to put the economy back on rails and was releasing close to ₹ 2,000 crore every month to settle the retirement and other benefits of the employees. The government treated employees with respect as they were the bridges between the government and the people in effectively implementing the spree of welfare schemes.

“If I am to take the reins for the second time, which I will, employees will play a major role in the process, standing as bridges between the government and the people. You should become the brand ambassadors in the government’s image building,” he said. The Chief Minister expressed concern over the efforts made by the Opposition parties to put spokes in major projects like the Regional Ring, Road and Musi rejuvenation.

He faulted the BRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao, working president K.T. Rama Rao and senior leader T. Harish Rao for “working against the interests of the people” claiming that they were not bothered about the welfare of the people who did not vote for them. The Chief Minister asserted that the government was not against the employees and was fully sympathetic towards their issues.

“Our intentions are good. There can be some problems in implementation which can be resolved through negotiations,” he said.

Mr. Revanth Reddy struck an emotional chord with the employees when he said he would prefer to be called as Revanthanna (brother) in spite of becoming the Chief Minister. “Posts are not permanent. We should build human relations which will remain forever,” he said.