VIJAYAWADA: Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is also the Chairman of the Southern Zonal Council (SZC), to put in place a ‘suitably empowered and effective mechanism’ to take necessary decisions on the pending issues pertaining to the State bifurcation and monitor their implementation.
The Finance Minister represented Andhra Pradesh at the 30th Southern Zonal Council meeting held in Kerala, which was chaired by Amit Shah. Stating that the prospects of the State had diminished due to the loss of Hyderabad and the industrially developed areas in bifurcation, Buggana said steps for promoting industrialisation are imperative for the development of AP.
“Section 94 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 and assurance made in Parliament provide tax incentives to AP,’’ Buggana recalled and said no incentives have been provided to the State.
“The State requests for extending the tax incentives on the lines of those being provided with the Special Category Status and north-eastern States. This will help to place the development of the State on a firm footing and on an accelerated growth trajectory,’’ the Finance Minister said.
On the key aspects of the AP Reorganisation Act, which are yet to be implemented in true letter and spirit, Buggana sought continued support of the Centre for the early completion of the Polavaram project as it is of paramount importance for the overall development of the State.
“Polavaram project is the lifeline of AP and the people of the State have a deep emotional bond with it,’’ he said and added that the Centre had declared it as a national project under Section 90 of the AP Reorganisation Act.
On the special development package for the seven backward districts of the State on the lines of the Bundelkhand package, Buggana said though the State submitted a detailed project report for Rs 24,350 crore in 2014, Rs 2,100 crore was only considered.
“I seek the support of the SZC Chairman in this regard and support for the Rayalaseema Drought Mitigation Project and the Uttarandhra Sujala Sravanthi project for which the State has sought support under revised guidelines of PMKVY. These two schemes will result in manifold benefits of bringing the new area under irrigation, assure drinking and industrial water supply and thereby permanently put an end to the cycle of drought, poverty and unemployment afflicting the backward regions of Andhra Pradesh,’’ he said.
Stating that the Centre had announced the establishment of the South Coastal Railway Zone with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters in February 2019, Buggana said the new railway zone is yet to be operationalised even after three years and sought Amit Shah’s intervention in the matter.
Buggana said the State suffered enormously from the consequences of bifurcation. “The State is rendered revenue-deficit and any further delay in the resolution of the pending bifurcation issues will severely impede its journey on the path of economic development,’’ Buggana said.