Emphasising that decentralization is the only way for all-round development of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said it is the policy of his government and the state has seen all “the wonders of decentralization” by setting up village and ward secretariats to doubling the districts to 26.
The Chief Minister clarified that he has said two more capitals will be added to the present Amaravati but he has never said that this should be taken away. “People have acknowledged the view with a landslide in the polls held after the 2019 general elections,” he said.
Participating in the short discussion on decentralization and administrative reforms on the opening day of the AP Assembly session in Amaravati on Thursday, the Chief Minister lambasted the Opposition for the sloganeering on the capital city that was “not built and could not be built by the farmer CM Chandrababu Naidu”.
He said that with a little boost, Visakhapatnam would be the natural capital with an investment of Rs 10,000 crores which is less than ten per cent of the estimate of the previous government to build the perceived capital city.
“For the 53,000 acres of land, the previous government has estimated an expenditure of RS 1.10 lakh crores for basic infrastructure and all that he could spend was just Rs 5,500 crores and that is the amount any government can spend and the previous government has kept Rs 2,297 cores as pending for us to clear,” he said.
Taking a dig at the ongoing agitation for Amaravati, Reddy said it is “not for the development of SCs, STs, BCs or minorities but to safeguard the interests of the wealthy class.”
“The state in our view is the entire stretch of 1.62 lakh sq. km radius but not the 8 km radius of which there has been an agitation of late, the state consists of 3.96 crore acres and not just 50,000 acres and farmers of these lands along with all those who are benefitting through Rythu Bharosa are the farmers,” the CM added.
“I have been telling about the decentralization time and again. From setting up of village and ward secretariats to doubling the districts to 26 we have shown what decentralization could be and it has been doing wonders and during the calamities, the welfare delivery mechanism has been working well and effectively.” Reddy said further.
Hitting hard at the ongoing Yatra by farmers, Jagan alleged that it was sponsored by Chandrababu Naidu with funny slogans and it is only to provoke people of other regions to raze a blaze.
Further, he said that there is not much difference between the State budget of the previous and our governments and it is around Rs 2.50 crores.
“Then why didn’t the previous government take up programmes like Amma Vodi, YSR Asara, Cheyutha, and Rythu Bharosa and give Rs 1.65 lakh crores Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) under various schemes and how it could be possible for us, it is a matter of commitment and priority,” he questioned.
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