VIJAYAWADA: Information and Public Relations and Housing Minister Kolusu Parthasarathy on Tuesday said the coalition government is working with a clear and focused vision to make Andhra Pradesh the number one State in the country, with inclusive growth, welfare and infrastructure development as its key priorities.
Addressing the Meet the Press programme at the Press Club here, the Minister said the government’s foremost goal is to ensure that every eligible poor family owns a house by 2029. He remarked that the State is being rebuilt ‘brick by brick’ after the previous government weakened its financial and administrative systems.
Responding to criticism over the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model in medical education, Parthasarathy said PPP is a globally accepted model followed by several States. He alleged that the previous government abandoned medical college projects worth Rs 8,500 crore after spending nearly Rs 600 crore. Under the present PPP model, 50% of seats would be allotted on merit to Andhra Pradesh students at a fee of Rs 15,500, compared to 35% earlier, he said.
The Minister alleged that the previous government left the State’s economy in distress, with borrowings 32% higher than other States, as noted in the CAG report.
Loans were raised through corporations and diverted to revenue expenditure instead of infrastructure development, he said, adding that several irrigation and drinking water projects were stalled for political reasons.
He said the government spent nearly Rs 50,000 crore on NTR Bharosa pensions in the last 18 months. Welfare initiatives such as Talliki Vandanam, free bus travel for women and Stree Shakti are aimed at empowering marginalised sections.
He said the government targets the creation of 20 lakh jobs, with projects worth Rs 8.29 lakh crore already grounded and MoUs worth Rs 13.5 lakh crore signed. He said 25 progressive industrial policies were approved, and an escrow account system introduced to ensure timely incentives to investors.
On power reforms, he said electricity tariffs would be reduced by Rs 1.20 per unit over five years, while rooftop solar plants would be promoted across all sections.
He also assured full support to journalists, stating that accreditation cards would be issued to all eligible journalists.
CR Media Academy Chairman Alapati Suresh Kumar, Journalist Association leaders IV Subbarao, Kanchal Jaya Raju, Soma Sundar, Chava Ravi, Venkateswarlu, Dasari Nagaraju and others participated.