By Chuppala Nagesh Bhushan The Mirage of Progress The narrative of "Viksit Bharat" (Developed India) presents a gleaming vision of a nation hurtling toward a high-tech, prosperous 2047. However, an investigative look at ground-level data and recent events reveals a more spectral reality: the rise of "ghost" infrastructure. Across the Republic, billions in taxpayer funds are being funneled into projects that exist physically in brick and steel but serve no functional purpose. There is a profound, systemic disconnect between the "100% complete" status on government dashboards and the actual utility provided to citizens. This mirage of progress—where "ticking boxes" replaces physical verification—is a betrayal of public trust that has finally pushed the nation’s youth into a state of visceral unrest. The Station Where No Train Stops: A Monument to Bureaucratic Hubris In Nishtapura, Bhopal, stands a 6-crore monument to wasteful planning. This r...
T. Chiranjeevulu, retired IAS officer and Chairman of the BC Intellectuals Forum, Hyderabad. Today let's discuss whether 42% reservations for BCs in local bodies, in education, and in jobs are possible in Telangana, and what we need to do to make them possible. Parliament sessions began just yesterday. In these sessions, it has been reported in today's newspapers that the central government will bring bills on Women's Reservation and on Delimitation. That's good news — but for the last 15 months, the 42% reservation bills sent by the Telangana state government have been pending with the Centre. The bills that reached the central government in April 2025 still have no progress. Whatever queries the Centre has raised, the state government has responded to all of them. Even so, the central government is not paying attention to these bills. Similarly, when it comes to social justice, Rahul Gandhi — who claims he will break the 50% reservation ceiling — has not mentioned ...