Welfare of poor at the core of my mission, avers Naidu

Cheyyeru (Konaseema District): Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has affirmed that the coalition government is deeply committed to the welfare and uplift of the poor, with improving the standard of living of underprivileged citizens at the core of his mission. “There is no greater satisfaction than serving the poor,” he said, during a public address at a pension distribution programme held on Saturday in Cheyyeru village of Katrenikona mandal, Dr. BR Ambedkar Konaseema district.

Recalling the legacy of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder NT Rama Rao, Naidu said, "NTR initiated the pension scheme for the poor, and the present coalition government has enhanced it significantly, providing Rs 4,000 per beneficiary now."

Declaring the coalition as a “government for the poor,” the Chief Minister listed out the range of welfare measures under way, including the Mega DSC recruitment, free distribution of three cooking gas cylinders annually, and Anna Canteens offering meals at just Rs 5. “The goal is to ensure no poor person sleeps hungry,” he said, while urging MLAs, MPs, and local representatives to engage closely with villages and participate in pension distribution to better understand the public's needs.

Naidu announced that in its first year, the coalition government disbursed Rs 34,000 crore towards pensions alone. He promised that if conditions permit, pension amounts would be further increased. Criticizing the previous YSRCP government, he said widow pensions were neglected, whereas this administration resumed pensions for 71,380 beneficiaries immediately upon taking office. He also introduced an automatic transfer mechanism for pensions to widows in the event of a spouse’s death.

The Chief Minister noted that over 64 lakh people in the state received pensions akin to employees on the first day of every month. The southern state gave welfare pensions more in terms of value and volume than richer states such as Maharashtra and Telangana. Compared with wealthier states, he noted that Maharashtra and Telangana provide only Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,500 respectively, while Andhra Pradesh leads with Rs 4,000.

He declared that pensions were distributed a day in advance this month and even delivered at workplaces for MGNREGA daily wage earners.

The Chief Minister said that five lakh people in the state were engaged in work-from-home jobs and noted that Rs 1,200 crore had been allocated for road repairs. Currently, 203 Anna Canteens were operational across the state. He mandated 10,000 solar connections per constituency and warned MLAs of the political consequences of non-compliance. Referring to the Deepam-2 scheme, under which three free cooking gas cylinders are offered to eligible beneficiaries, the CM noted that he would deposit money into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries once in four months to make it easy to avail the scheme. Likewise, Naidu called on SC and ST communities to avail solar power scheme (PM Surya Ghar) to generate power on their rooftops and stand a chance of avoiding electricity bills completely, along with the possibility of selling excess power to the grid. Under this scheme, the TDP supremo highlighted that SC and ST communities will get 100 per cent subsidy, BCs Rs 98,000 subsidy for 3 kw solar power system and Other Castes (OCs) Rs 78,000 subsidy.

“Every mother will receive ‘Thalliki Vandhanam’ funds for each child,” he said. The Chief Minister further announced that the Annadata Sukhibhava scheme would be launched in June, followed by a free bus travel scheme for women starting on August 15. He called on all the poor to stand with the government and sustain this for their bright future. Within two months, all government services would be accessible via WhatsApp Governance, he added.

Chandrababu Naidu recalled the 1996 cyclone in Konaseema and recalled his involvement in relief efforts. He reiterated his government's commitment to delivering social justice. He criticised political actors for vandalising Ambedkar statues and alleged that such divisive politics had pushed Konaseema behind Anantapur in terms of development. Referring to Konaseema district, Naidu advised the local farmers to incorporate inter-cropping of cocoa or fodder grass in their 90,000 acres of coconut orchards to increase their income. Moreover, Naidu said he wants to be the eldest son of every family in the state, and work towards creating wealth in Andhra Pradesh. He announced that a new welfare calendar would be released soon. The CM also promised to implement 'Annadata Sukhibhava' (Rs 20,000 financial aid to farmers per annum) in three installments soon.

Lastly, Naidu accused the previous government of using the door-to-door ration delivery system as a front for rice smuggling, claiming that mafia and criminal empires operated under the guise of politics. Before the public meeting, CM Naidu went to the MGNREGA work site in Cheyyeru and distributed pensions.

Earlier, the CM was received warm welcome by minister Vasamsetty Subhash, district collector Mahesh Kumar, Joint Collector Nishanthi, MLAs Vegulla Jogeswara Rao, Nimmakayala Chinarajappa, Bandaru Satyananda Rao, Deva Varaprasad, Aithabattula Ananda Rao, Datla BucchiRaju, and others.