Demand for welfare hostels in urban areas

There was a huge demand for admissions in BC welfare hostels for boys and girls in district headquarters, divisional head quarters and major towns but seats are not being filled up in BC welfare hostels in rural areas in the Adilabad district of Telangana. The same trend is reported from all the districts in the state.

It is also an indication that students are shifting to nearby towns for schooling and college studies in the Adilabad district. In view of this, state government is diverting the seats in hostels in Rural to hostels in urban areas where there is a good demand for the seats.      

A good number of sanctioned seats were lying vacant in the BC welfare hostels located in rural areas due to poor facilities and lack of supervision and majority of the hostels were running rented buildings. This was found during inspection by Dr T. Radha, principal secretary BC Welfare Department, on July 23, 2015.

It was found that there were only 3,020 maintained strength against 4,282 sanctioned strength at 50 BC pre- matric welfare hostels for boys and girls for the year 2015-16 by end of the July,2015 in the district.

There was zero strength at Bejjur and Dasturabad BC welfare hostels for boys and girls respectively against 67 and 80 sanctioned strength and poor admissions in 14 hostels in rural areas out of 50 total hostels in the district. Students strengthen is low in hostels in rural areas when compared t urban areas.

Principal Secretary, BC welfare Dept Dr T. Radha directed to the District BC welfare officers to take steps with the consent of the local MLAs to divert the sanctioned seats in BC welfare hostels in rural areas to hostels in urban areas where there was good demand for the seats from the college students and post matric students.

She also advised the District BC welfare officer to see the possibility of merging nearby hostels and divert the excess boarders strength to hostels in urban areas.     

Farmers to get barcoded ID's

The marketing department will issue barcoded identity cards containing farmers’ details for use in cotton purchases to control irregularities at the Market yards in the Telangana.

Details of land, crops, bank account, pattadar pass book will be barcoded into the cards. Efforts are being made to start the commercial cotton purchases from September 27 in the Adilabad district.    

It is learnt that state government came out issue barcode  identity cards for farmers following the reports of huge irregularities in cotton purchases in Kharif-2014 in Warangal, Karimnagar and Adilabad districts.

It was found that cotton commission agents and owners of the Cotton ginning and pressing factors had purchased the cotton produce at low prices from the farmers on benami names and sold it to the Cotton Corporation of India at higher prices.

The farmers, already facing distress, were deprived of even minimum support price of Rs 4,050 announced by the Central government last Kharif.

Collector M. Jagan Mohan said they the use of the barcoded ID cards would prevent irregularities in the cotton purchases at market yards.

Minister Jogu Ramanna said nearly 56 lakh quintals of cotton purchases takes place last Kharif in the district.

But the Agriculture department figures showed that cotton crop was badly damaged and withered due to drought conditions and cotton yields were low and did not cross 35 lakh quintals in the last Kharif in the Adilabad district.

Nearly 21 lakh of cotton was purchased from the farmers of bordering Maharashtra and other parts of state at cheaper prices and sold to the CCI of Adilabad branch, at MSP of Rs 4,050 by the middlemen and owner of the ginning factories.

Even the Adilabad marketing department claimed that its revenue in terms of taxes on cotton purchases had been increased, contradicting the agriculture department figures.