VIJAYAWADA: Taking a step forward in fulfilling the promises made in the party manifesto, the YS Jagan Moan Reddy government on Friday decided to introduce several Bills, including one for constitution of a Judicial Commission to review every government tender for contracts worth over Rs 100 crore, in the ongoing Assembly session.
The State Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, gave nod for introducing a Bill in the Assembly to pave way for constitution of the Judicial Commission to be headed either by a sitting judge or a retired judge.
According to the draft Bill, all departments should submit their proposals to the Commission and tenders should be kept in the public domain for seven days for a review by people and experts. The Commission will review the tenders eight days after that and the total tender process will be completed in 15 days. All the eligible contractors will get equal opportunities to participate in the bidding. The judge and the Commission staff will be treated as public servants, to ensure security to them.
The Cabinet also gave nod to another draft Bill for scrapping the AP Economic Development Board (APEDB) and bring in a new Act, the AP Investment Promotion and Monitoring Act (APIPMA) - 2019. While the Chief Minister will be the chairman of the APIPMA, it will have seven directors including Ministers of Finance and Industries and the Chief Secretary and others.
CEOs of prominent companies, business tycoons and financial experts will be on the Special Advisory Committee of APIPMA. The head office of the body will be in Vijayawada and another office will be set up in Hyderabad to encourage and train young industrialists.
YSR Navodayam
The Cabinet approved ‘YSR Navodayam’ scheme, which is aimed at extending support to micro, small and medium scale industries. After identifying 86,000 MSMEs in financial crisis, the government approved one-time restructure of loans worth Rs 4,000 crore. Companies will be given nine months time to make use of the scheme
Quota in contracts
The Cabinet also decided to table a Bill for allocating 50 per cent of the contracts and service contracts being given by the government on nomination basis to SCs, STs, BCs and minorities. The government has already announced 50% reservation in nominated posts in corporations, boards, societies, trusts, market yards and temple committees to these sections
Other Cabinet decisions
Approved the draft Bill to form committees to monitor the standard of education and regulate fees in schools and higher educational institutes and supervise the implementation of the Right to Education Act
Rs 10,000 annual financial assistance to washerman community, Nayee Brahmins
and tailors
Decided to amend the Act for appointing Tirupati Urban Development Authority chairman as the ex-officio member of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Trust Board
The government will provide 200 units of electricity to SC families free of cost. It will benefit 15,62,684 families and cost the exchequer an additional Rs 411 crore