The launch of the two schemes coincided with the birthday of Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, which is also the day when the UPA government announced the formation of a separate Telangana. The two schemes were introduced on Saturday by the Chief Minister at the Legislative Assembly premises in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu and other ministers along with AIMIM MLA and pro-tem speaker Akbaruddin Owaisi.
The free bus travel scheme for women, named Mahalakshmi, was modelled on the same scheme introduced by the Congress government in the neighboring Karnataka. Under this, women domiciled in Telangana are allowed to travel in the state-run buses without paying any fare.
Under the Rajiv Arogyasri health scheme, the poor would get health coverage up to Rs 10 lakh per annum per family. Under the previous government, the coverage was limited to Rs 5 lakh per annum per family. The Chief Minister also handed over a cheque for Rs 2 crore to ace boxer Nikhat Zareen as an incentive.
Meanwhile, former finance minister T Harish Rao on Saturday pointed out that the Congress during the election campaign had promised to release the second instalment of financial assistance for the Rabi crop under the Rythu Bandhu scheme on 9 December but so far there has not been any communication in this regard from the new government. Since the farmers suffered heavy losses due to sudden rain caused by Cyclone Mitchaung, the BRS leader urged the government to buy all the wet paddy.