HYDERABAD : Though one expected an intense debate in the AP Assembly on Tuesday over the location of the new capital of the State, the House confined itself to the discussion over agriculture budget, as Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu postponed his announcement on the new capital to Thursday.
The House commenced at 9 am with the Speaker disallowing the adjournment motion for the discussion over the new capital moved by the Opposition. When YSRC MLA Jyothula Nehru said a discussion was important, the Speaker said the Chief Minister would be making an announcement soon. Nehru stressed the need for a discussion for an entire day before any announcement was made.
After the question hour and zero hour, discussion on the demands of allocation for agriculture and allied departments was taken up. The House was adjourned for the day at 2 pm. TDP MLA Alapati Rajendra Prasad started the discussion and spoke at length picking holes in the policies of YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s government. He accused YSR government of encouraging corruption and said faulty policies during that regime had led to present agriculture crisis.
Countering his argument, YSRC MLA Y Visweswara Reddy said that though 65 per cent of the people in the State are dependent on the agriculture, the total budgetary allocations for the agriculture and allied sectors stood at a mere 3 per cent of the total budget. “No mention was made as to how the government proposes to implement the farmer loan waiver. It limited itself to allocating a mere ` 5,000 crore for the purpose,” he pointed out.
When he claimed that growth rate in agriculture was 6.19 per cent during YSR regime and that of yield rate was 6.45 per cent as against that of 0.97 per cent during previous Chandrababu Naidu’s regime, Agriculture Minister P Pulla Rao intervened and said that if any growth rate was recorded during YSR regime, then that would be in corruption only. He demanded to know if the YSR regime was farmer-friendly, why did the State witness several farmer suicides.
Members of both ruling and opposition parties limited themselves to praising their respective leaders and finding fault with policies of previous governments.
Naidu Wants ANDHRA PRADESH to Be Drought-proof
Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday instructed irrigation department officials to prepare an action plan to make the state drought-proof. Reviewing the status of existing projects, the chief minister ordered officials to identify ayacut areas of various projects that will irrigate farm lands. Naidu also directed the officials to identify obstacles delaying these projects and ensure their completion. The chief minister asked the irrigation department to identify and expedite the process of completing pending projects. Currently, AP has 54 irrigation projects under construction. He said a State Irrigation Advisory Committee would be set up to study water scarcity in mandals located near the basins of Krishna, Godavari, Penna, Vamsadhara and Nagavali rivers and develop a plan to provide water to these mandals.