Hyderabad, Aug. 15 -- Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka handed out Digital Smart Ration Cards to beneficiaries at the Khammam Collectorate on Independence Day, part of a statewide rollout that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy formally launched at a public meeting in Sangareddy the same day.

Bhatti used the occasion to press home a broader argument that his government exists to serve ordinary people rather than to wield power for its own sake. He said the Congress-led Indiramma government was building the foundations for Telangana's development, with an ambition that stretched beyond competing with other Indian states to matching developed countries globally.

He linked the ration card drive to Independence Day itself,...