VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday, resolved to launch ‘Pedalandariki Illu’, a flagship programme of the YSRC government, on December 25. Under the scheme, 30.6 lakh people will get house site pattas. For this, the government has acquired 66,518 acres, valued at Rs 23,000 crore. As many as 25,193 acres are government land, while the remaining 22,342 acres were acquired from private parties.
Briefing the media about the Cabinet resolutions, Minister for Agriculture Kurasala Kannababu said beneficiaries will initially be given D-form pattas, and once the legal cases are resolved, land deeds will be handed over. A total of 17,500 layouts will be developed in 11,000 panchayats for the scheme, he added.
The Cabinet also gave its consent to construct houses for Pedalandariki Illu beneficiaries under YSR - Jagananna Colonies. As many as 28.3 lakh houses will be built in phases over three years.
In the first phase, 16 lakh houses will be constructed in 8,494 layouts. Each house is expected to cost Rs 1.8 lakh, and a total of Rs 28,800 crore will be spent on the scheme. The first phase is to be completed in 18 months, and construction is to begin on December 25.The minister said the Cabinet resolved to pay Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears to government employees and pensioners pending since July 2018 in three phases.
From July 2018 to January 2019, DA has been increased by 3.144 per cent, which will be paid from January 2021 onwards. DA from January 2019 to July 2019 has been increased by 3.144 per cent and will be paid from July 2021. DA from July 2019 has been enhanced by 5.24 per cent and will be paid to government employees and pensioners from January 2022.
“Another important decision taken by the Andhra Pradesh government is to pay salaries and pensions to government employees that were withheld in March and April due to the Covid-19 crisis. They will be paid in December and January respectively,” he said.
The State Cabinet approved the Comprehensive Land Resurvey Project, and under the YSR Jagananna Permanent Land Rights and Land Project Scheme, the survey will commence from December 21.The Cabinet also approved the setting up of the Andhra Pradesh State Development Corporation Limited (APSDCL) with a corpus of Rs 25,000 crore. An ordinance with regard to APSDCL was issued in September. Its main purpose is planning, funding and financing economic and social development projects and activities in alignment with sustainable development goals. The bill will be introduced in the Winter session of the Assembly, which is to commence on November 30.
The Cabinet has approved a change of the system of levying property tax from the Annual Rental Value basis to the Capital Value (CV) system. Under the new system, the percentage of tax so fixed, is between 0.10 per cent and 0.50 per cent of the CV for residential buildings. It is between 0.2 per cent and 2 per cent of the CV for non-residential buildings, and only Rs 50 is levied as property tax for houses of BPL families.
The new tax (hike) would be limited to 15 per cent of the existing rate. The CM directed for delinking general funds of urban local bodies from CMSF funds and letting the revenue of urban local bodies be used for their needs.
