Naidu to waive all types of farm loans

OTHER KEY DECISIONS

• CM stresses on retaining people’s faith in TDP
  
• To convene meeting with bankers in four days
  
• Revenue deficit pegged at about `16,000 cr
  
• Pensions for specially challenged from Oct 2
  
• Petro corridor between Vizag and Kakinada
  
• Staff allotted from T also to retire at 60 years
  
• Rs 6 lakh cr required to build new capital
  
• MGH to be made super specialty hospital
  
• 7-hr marathon Cabinet meeting at AU campus
  
• Govt prefers decentralized form of development
  
• Cabinet discusses all files Naidu had signed after taking the oath

Hyderabad: The first cabinet meeting of the Andhra Pradesh government that was held in the Senate Hall of the Andhra University on Thursday decided to implement the loan waiver scheme for farmers without any conditions though the government has started functioning with a revenue deficit of about Rs 16,000 crore. It is learnt that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was of the opinion that if they restricted the beneficiaries to reduce the burden on the exchequer, they would be in for criticism not only from the opposition but also from the people and the party would lose the faith they had reposed in him.

The cabinet, according to Naidu, has decided to convene a meeting with the bankers to work out the modalities in the next three or four days. Later briefing media on the nearly seven-hour long cabinet meeting, Naidu said that they had detailed discussion pertaining to the five files he had signed soon after taking the oath as Chief Minister. The cabinet has decided to implement the pension for the handicapped from October 2.

He said they had decided to take up decentralised development in the state. Since North coastal Andhra had always been a stronghold of TDP and as the party got maximum seats from East Godavari and West Godavari districts, the cabinet decided to develop Visakhapatnam as a mega city. It would also have new international airport.

He said officials had been asked to work out an action plan. The council of ministers also approved the decision to introduce Metro rail in Vizag, develop outer ring road, link roads and construct flyover to ease traffic congestion and make it into a world class city so that attracting investments would become easy. Naidu said while Visakhapatnam would be a Mega city, Tirupati and Vijayawada would be developed as Mega towns.

The cabinet also decided to go in for downstream industries in Visakhapatnam and develop the area between Vizag and Kakinada as a petro corridor. Since this area had long sea coast, the government would strive to bring more and more petroleum based projects on war footing, he said.

To ensure that the 24-hour power supply for domestic and industrial sector and nine hours of power for agriculture , the government will have a separate load dispatching centre for Andhra Pradesh and will take necessary measures to build coal stocks. Admitting that the power situation at present was in a bad shape, he said the officials had been asked to prepare an action plan to streamline the system and also go in for Solar and wind power on a large scale. He said in a very short period, his government would make the state a power surplus state.

Replying to a question, he said that so far the Centre had provisionally allocated the employees to the two states and all government employees who were now working in Telangana and would be allocated to Andhra would also retire at the age of 60 and hence they need not have any worry on that account. However, such benefit may not be available for those who are at present working with the Andhra Pradesh government and may be sent to Telangana.

The cabinet, Naidu said, had also decided to put pressure on the Centre to speed up the procedure of release of funds under special status category and would appeal to them to increase it to 10 years. Similarly, it would also ask the Centre to give money for 7 districts which had been named as eligible for special package. Asked about the new capital city, Naidu said it had been estimated that about 6 lakh crore would be required for the construction of a new capital city and urged the Centre for immediate help. He also sought liberal donations for the construction of the new capital city. He said all donations should be sent under the head; AP New capital development fund/CM relief fund.

To ensure that the prices of essential commodities were kept under control, Naidu said, the government would reintroduce rytu bazaars. He further said that a cabinet sub-committee to identify government lands that were wrongly allotted in the past by the previous government would be constituted and action would be taken against those found guilty. He said there had been lot of misuse of government land in the last ten years by the successive governments.

Naidu said the cabinet had also decided to issue a fresh GO so that people who had constructed houses on Simhachalam temple lands and had been living there for over two decades are regularised. The temple would be allotted alternative land as compensation. Among other decisions were conversion of MGH as a super speciality hospital and develop North coastal region as a tourist, medical and commercial hub. The government will also talk to the Centre about creating a separate Railway zone for Visakhapatnam, he added.