VIJAYAWADA: Lashing out at TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu for his ‘fake’ selfies, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy asserted that Naidu had posted selfies in front of TIDCO houses that are being constructed by the present government.
Jagan, too, threw down the gauntlet to the former Chief Minister to go to any house and ask the people if they were satisfied with the welfare schemes initiated by the previous TDP government. “If they say yes, click a selfie,” he challenged Naidu.
The CM was speaking after distributing Rs 658.60 crore to 4,39,068 poor women belonging to Reddy, Kamma, Arya Vysya, Brahmin, Kshatriya, Velama and other OC communities across the State under the YSR EBC Nestham scheme.
The initiative is aimed at empowering women, aged between 45 to 60 years, and help them set up business units. The government has so far released Rs 1,257.04 crore under scheme, crediting Rs 30,000 each in two tranches.
It may be noted that EBC Nestham was not a part of Jagan’s manifesto. However, the CM introduced it to extend a helping hand to the poor women of OC communities. Continuing his tirade against the TDP supremo, Jagan said Naidu has no locus standi to pose for selfies, throw political challenges and paste his party’s stickers outside houses.
“Is he (Naidu) posing for selfies and throwing challenges for exploiting and cheating people through corrupt Janmabhoomi Committees and for foisting false cases against minorities during his rule? Is it for cheating people with the promise of waiving DWCRA loans, Sunna Vaddi loans and Rythu Bharosa? Is it for pursuing the policy of plunder, stash and devour with the support of his friendly media and foster son (referring to JSP chief Pawan Kalyan) between 2014 and 2019?” Jagan questioned Naidu mockingly.
Pointing out that his government has distributed Rs 2,07,000 crore through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in the last 45 months to lakhs of beneficiaries in a transparent manner, he asked Naidu why he was unable to do the same.
Urging the people not to believe the false propaganda spread by the yellow party and its friendly media, the Chief Minister appealed to the public not to fall prey to such political gimmickry.“You are my only strength and I depend on you and God. I call upon you to go by the yardstick of benefits you have received through the welfare schemes. Become the party’s soldiers and work for its victory in the next elections,” he said.
Elaborating on his government’s initiatives, Jagan said, “Aiming at economic, political and social empowerment of women, a slew of welfare schemes like YSR Sampoorna Poshana, Kalyanamasthu and Shadi Tohfa, Vidya Deevena, Vasathi Deevena, Videshi Vidya Deevena, Aasara, Cheyutha, Kapu Nestham, EBC Nestham and many others were implemented.”
Stating that 30 lakh house sites were distributed to women across the State so far, he said 20 lakh were under construction. The government has also cleared DWCRA bank loans to the tune of Rs 19,178 crore out of a total of Rs 25, 570 crore kept pending by the TDP rule, Jagan added. Besides enacting a law to allot 50% of the nominated posts and contracts to women, the government has spent Rs 1,42,000 crore of the total Rs 2.07 lakh crore allocated for welfare schemes for empowering women.
CM sanctions Rs 2 crore for Shadikhana
On the request of Markapuram MLA K Nagarjuna Reddy, the Chief Minister agreed to construct Ambedkar and BC Bhavans at Markapuram, besides sanctioning funds for drainage works at Podili. He also sanctioned Rs 2 crore for constructing Shadikhana in the town and Rs 50 crore for laying a 17-km pipeline for augmenting drinking water supply from NSP Canal. Further, he laid foundation stones for some of these works virtually.Lauding the farmers who sacrificed 13 acres for the construction of a medical college, the Chief Minister agreed to release Rs 3 lakh each towards their development.