AP CM swears by technology

​Vijayawada: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu set a new target of providing electronic classrooms at all levels. He wanted the officials to use the available technology for developing the State.

Speaking at the inauguration of the two-day Collectors conference here on Tuesday, the Chief Minister said that the government was ready to provide internet for Rs 140 a month.

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Highlights:

• Promises to provide electronic class rooms
• Directs officials to use available technology in welfare schemes
• Claims AP to be the first State in the country to declare 100 villages open defecation free
• Says the government is focussed on making State water surplus

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“This will offer services of telephone, internet and television for every family. The services will be available to the educational institutions to upgrade classrooms. The cyber grid programme is being extended to the State on a record time with lowest price using the existing electricity poles,” he added.

Naidu added that Andhra Pradesh would be the first State in the country declaring 110 towns and 1000 villages Open Defecation Free (ODF) by October 2. He hoped that other urban and the rural local bodies would also be declared ODF by the end of 2018.

“The government is focusing on making the State energy and water surplus in the coming years. We have achieved the record of becoming energy surplus by initiating several energy saving measures. We can also become water surplus in the coming years,” the Chief Minister asserted.

Naidu claimed that his government put in place a system to overcome drought in the Rayalaseema region. “Use of rain guns and water sprinkler systems proved effective in tackling drought and saving crops in lakh of acres in Rayalaseema this year. Our ultimate objective is to make the State drought-free,” he said.

“However, there is no way we can avoid cyclones or floods, which the State is prone to. For this, preparedness is required. We have to regularly conduct mock drills so that we can prevent damage to properties and lives during calamities,” he averred.

Reiterating the government’s commitment to interlink Godavari and Penna rivers, he said that the government was ready to complete the prestigious Polavaram project as per schedule by the end of 2018.

“Polavaram would be the major project to be executed in the country in the recent past and even for the future. We must set record and create history in completing the project,” he averred.

The Chief Minister also recalled the use of technology for the successful conduct of the Krishna Pushkaralu and said that people were satisfied with performance of the government during that major event.

He wanted the officials to work with similar commitment to make every programme of the State a success and thus win the confidence of the people.

He said that the welfare schemes of the government too are to be implemented at the grassroots level minimising human interference. He said that the use of technology like biometric would help in accuracy and transparency in taking the welfare programmes to the people.

Naidu said that technology would also help in increasing the confidence levels of the people and claimed that 80 per cent of the people in the State were satisfied with the government. He asked the officials to win the satisfaction of the remaining 20 per cent by adopting technology and extending better services.

Deputy Chief Ministers N Chinarajappa (Home), K E Krishna Murthy (Revenue), Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, Chief Secretary Satya Prakash Tucker, Chief Commissioner of Land Administration Anil Chandra Punetha and other bureaucrats attended the conference.