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Spar over Fibre Grid
The issue of power purchase and launching of Fibre Grid programme from August 15 sparked off a heated debate in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly here on Saturday. Participating in the debate on the Fibre Grid programme, Leader of Opposition YS Jaganmohan Reddy alleged that the main intention of the programme was to gag the voice of the media which was opposed to the TDP.
Hyderabad: The issue of power purchase and launching of Fibre Grid programme from August 15 sparked off a heated debate in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly here on Saturday. Participating in the debate on the Fibre Grid programme, Leader of Opposition YS Jaganmohan Reddy alleged that the main intention of the programme was to gag the voice of the media which was opposed to the TDP.
Jagan alleged that the State government had awarded the Fibre Grid project worth of Rs 333 crore to the Tera Software Ltd, a company that was earlier black-listed by the government for its failure in providing e-POS (point of sale) machines at fair price shops. Vemuru Hari Prasad, a director on the board of Tera Software, was also a member of the Tender Evaluation Committee, which awarded the contract to Tera Software. There are also close relations between Tera Soft and Heritage Group," Jagan alleged.
Replying to the discussion, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that it was unfortunate that the Leader of Opposition had made it a point to level baseless allegations on every issue. He said the flagship programme aimed at providing a package of services of cable TV, internet and telephone connectivity through a single connection to every household in the State for just Rs 149 per month.
Naidu said as part of his efforts to transform the reorganised State into a first digital State in the country by 2018, his government had put two projects –Fibre Grid and e-Pragathi -- on the fast track mode. "Fibre Grid project will be completed across the State in the next three years. In the first phase, high speed internet connectivity will be provided to every household in the State for just Rs 149 per month from coming August 15," he stated.
The CM further said, "Hari Prasad went to jail in his bid to expose the loopholes in the EVMs. He has not gone to prison like you for indulging in corrupt practices. He has gone to jail for the sake of the nation. Stealing and corrupt practices are your habit. You were behind the bars for resorting to such crimes, not Hari Prasad," Naidu added.
He said the government is taking steps to install triple-play set-top boxes through this connection in every house so that these boxes will be helpful to record electricity consumption reading and water usage reading, paving the way for 'real-time' monitoring of power and water consumption in each House across the State.
Earlier, the Leader of Opposition speaking on power situation and reforms in the state alleged that the government had purchased power at exorbitant rates even though it was available for lesser rates through power exchange. Quoting statistics, Jagan alleged that a major scam had taken place in regard to power purchase.
Refuting the allegations, Labour and Employment Minister K Atchannaidu said that during YSR regime power was purchased at the rate of over Rs 13 per unit while the present government was buying it for about Rs 5 or even less than that per unit. He said the state government had initiated three programmes to conserve electricity. Under the Domestic Efficient Lightening Programme (DELP), the government had so far distributed 1.82 crore LED bulbs to about 91 lakh households in the state, for replacing the incandescent bulbs.
