VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has called upon Telugu expatriates in the US to set up industries in the State and assured red carpet treatment to investors.
Addressing a meeting hosted by Telugu community at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, on Saturday evening Jagan, quoting civil rights activist Martin Luther King Junior’s famous speech, “I have a dream…” said, “I too have a dream that the day will come when food growers will not have to die of starvation, there will be no deaths for want of medical treatment, the poor will not curse fate for not having a roof over their head, unemployed youth will not suffer hunger pangs. I dream of a State where water is provided to every village, the disparity between urban and rural areas is bridged, a State where there is zero illiteracy, a place where mothers no longer have to shed tears of anguish for not being able to send their children to school.”
Praising the Telugu expatriates’ love for their native State, native village and concern for the development of schools and hospitals, the Chief Minister urged them to visit their homeland at least once a year and become partners in State government’s endeavour to improve the conditions in villages, schools, hospitals, and bus stands.
“I assure you, our government will be with you all the way. We will extend every possible cooperation when you come to set up industry or lend a hand in the development of villages or improving infrastructure in rural areas,” he said. He asserted that his government is determined to ensure conducive atmosphere for industrial growth in the State.
He promised to name the projects they develop after them or the names they suggest. He promised to set up a separate web-portal in the AP government website, which will be linked to the Chief Minister’s Office. If any potential investors are interested in registering their names on the portal, the officials of the CMO will get in touch with them and render all possible assistance, he explained.
Jagan, who started his speech by addressing the gathering in his endearing signature style, “Chellama, Anna bagunnara... avva, thatha bagunnara,” thanked Telugu expatriates for their love and affection for him, his father late YS Rajasekhara Reddy and his family. When he said they played an important role in his party’s landslide victory in the recent elections in the State and saluted them, it evoked huge applause.
Promising never to undermine the self-respect of Andhras, the CM said every effort is being made to bring in a transparent, accountable and corruption-free governance to lay a firm foundation for the State’s development in the coming days. “In the two and a half months since our government was formed, we have already initiated steps in that direction,” he declared.
The CM said the inspiration for several of the welfare schemes initiated by his government are the people and said he personally saw and listened to the problems of people during his padayatra.
“We came up with Navaratnalu to address those problems. In the very first budget session itself, we introduced 19 landmark Bills which will change the history. Bills to provide 50 per cent reservation to SCs, STs, BCs and minorities in nominated posts, government contracts, and 75 reservation for locals in industries and factories,” he said and elaborated the initiatives like reverse tendering, judicial preview commission, educational reforms.