HYDERABAD: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy has declared that no new taxes will be imposed on people nor will bus fares or power tariff be raised despite the huge investments in the irrigation sector.

In an open letter to people on Monday on the occasion of the golden jubilee celebrations of the formation of the State, Dr. Reddy said his Government would not go back on the promises made to people in its election manifesto.

He said he had seen people's travails during his 1,600-km padayatra before becoming the Chief Minister and hence, he would remain committed to the concept of pro-people governance. Free power supply would never be curtailed nor stopped, he reiterated.

He criticised the previous Telugu Desam Government for its `wrongdoing' in entering into agreements with private power producers without adequate gas supply assurance.

This had resulted in a huge burden on the State, he said.

Schemes for women

Drawing people's attention to the fact that male-female ratio was falling significantly, he said the girl child should not be treated as a burden. The Government, too, was taking up several programmes to educate people on this issue.

His Government was pro-women in every sense he said pointing to the allocation of Rs. 3,500-crore loan to the self-help groups this year.

He said the mandate given to the ruling party in the civic, panchayat and cooperative elections was proof enough of people's support to his policies.

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