Hyderabad: The Telangana government decided to accelerate its Telangana zero poverty plan to eliminate poverty by 2030 and build a developed economy by 2033. Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka chaired a high-level meeting on Thursday to frame measures for achieving the state’s long-term economic and social goals.
The meeting focused on strengthening development planning and implementation systems. Officials also discussed improving coordination among departments and continuously monitoring development outcomes.
Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary and Hyderabad-based GFST Vice-Chairman S.P. Tucker attended the meeting with GFST representatives. Finance and Planning department secretaries and other senior officials also participated.
Telangana zero poverty plan to get dedicated PMU
The government decided to strengthen the Telangana State Development Planning Society, or TSDPS. As part of the initiative, it will establish a dedicated Project Management Unit. The PMU will prepare strategic plans for priority development programmes. Moreover, it will coordinate departments, monitor implementation and help accelerate progress.
Under the Telangana zero poverty plan, the government will introduce targeted programmes for vulnerable families. Officials will identify families at risk of poverty and coordinate government schemes for them. In addition, the government plans to support sustainable livelihood opportunities.
A dedicated mechanism will also measure and monitor the results of poverty eradication programmes. The government also decided to prepare a focused growth strategy to make Telangana a developed economy by 2033.
The strategy will seek to use the state’s strengths more effectively. It will also identify opportunities in investment, innovation, employment and inclusive development. Furthermore, the government decided to use experts and consultants with specialised knowledge across different sectors.
These experts will provide technical and strategic support to accelerate economic development and strengthen the government’s institutional capacity.
Subheading: Government-GFST partnership proposed
The meeting decided to prepare a proposal for an MoU between the Telangana government and GFST. The proposed partnership will cover strategic planning, data-driven decision-making and technical expertise. It will also provide knowledge support, capacity building and monitoring.
In addition, the partnership will support faster implementation of key development programmes. Bhatti Vikramarka directed officials to prepare comprehensive development plans for individual districts.
The plans will translate state-level goals into measurable outcomes at the district level. They will include data-driven dashboards, clear key performance indicators and budget linkages. As a result, officials will be able to monitor district-level progress continuously. The system will also help identify gaps and enable timely corrective measures.
The government will establish seven sectoral growth labs involving departments, experts, industries, educational institutions and development organisations. The labs will focus on poverty eradication, infrastructure and logistics, health, tourism, livestock and aquaculture, urbanisation and developed economy goals.
They will identify growth opportunities and address implementation hurdles. Moreover, the labs will develop sector-specific strategies and convert priorities into time-bound, measurable action plans.
The government plans to combine the strengthened TSDPS-PMU, district plans and sectoral growth labs into an integrated development framework. Expert support and the proposed GFST partnership will also form part of this institutional structure.
The framework will promote data-driven decisions and outcome-based monitoring. It will also support development programmes through a mission-mode approach. Officials said the measures aimed to translate the state’s development vision into action. The government intends to achieve zero poverty by 2030 and developed economy status by 2033.
Finance Principal Secretary Sandeep Kumar Sultania and Economic Planning Secretary Gaurav Uppal were among the senior officials who attended the meeting.