VIJAYAWADA: The State Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday, approved the new Excise policy, which will come into effect in the first week of October. The Council of Ministers gave nod to the recommendations made by the Cabinet Sub-Committee on prices, retail marketing and taxation of liquor.
In an attempt to increase efficiency of management, the Cabinet has decided that a private retail system for sale of liquor will be adopted. Of the total 3,736 retail outlets in the State, 10% will be allotted to toddy tappers. Special guidelines and notifications will be issued for reserved outlets and for unreserved shops, 50% license fee in the proposed slabs will be applicable.
Retail liquor outlets will be allotted through a lottery system to ensure transparency. The Chief Minister directed the Excise officials to ensure that quality liquor is available at reasonable prices.
Elaborating on the decisions approved by the Cabinet, Minister for Information and Public Relations Kolusu Parthasarathy told mediapersons that the proposal to provide 33% reservation for Backward Classes (BCs) in Legislative Bodies was approved and will be forwarded to the Centre for its nod. On the issue of restoring the volunteer system, he pointed out that the tenure of volunteers ended on August-2023 and that the previous YSRC government did not renew their services. After being informed by the Ministers that half of the volunteers had tendered resignations before the election, the Chief Minister sought more information on the issue.
Additionally, the Cabinet decided to revoke the GO as per which Rs 200 was given to Village/Ward volunteers and Secretariats staff, stating that it caused the State a loss of Rs 102 crore.
Bhogapuram airport to be named after Alluri
Further, it was decided that the international airport in Bhogapuram will be named after freedom fighter Alluri Sitarama Raju. Further, approval was given for to fill 58 posts in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) on temporary basis to strengthen the official machinery in the CMO, resolve the issues of the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMR F) and the complaints lodged with the CMO , the Minister said. Naidu advised the Cabinet to initiate steps to strengthen the systems by utilising the technology and good practices.
The Cabinet also okayed the proposal for creation of preliminary corpus fund of Rs 100 crore for financial year 2024-25 so that MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) can get loans to the tune of Rs 5 crore without providing any collateral security, Parthasarathy explained. The Cabinet also approved to establish Andhra Pradesh Ex- Servicemen Corporation with a corpus fund of Rs 10 crore. Though it was proposed that the corporation be set up with a corpus fund of Rs 3 crore from the PDF account, the Chief Minister approved Rs 10 crore corpus fund. It approved the ratification orders of the Polavaram Chief Engineer to continue the present agency for the construction of a new diaphragm wall of the Polavaram project.
The Chief Minister also directed the irrigation department officials to take steps to fill all the reservoirs and minor irrigation tanks in Rayalaseema in this season itself. The Council of Ministers also decided to rename Vision Document Vikasitha Andhra-2047 as Swarnandhra@2047. While the document will be released on November 1, talks will be held with the stakeholders from September 21 to October 5, Parthasarthy explained.
The Cabinet gave its nod to issue a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to convert SRM University, which is working towards establishing an Artificial Intelligence (AI) University and a Skilling Academy in Amaravati , as
‘Deemedtobe University’. The proposal for establishing the second MSME Technology Centre-cum-Testing Facility at Amaravati instead of the Mega Industrial Hub at Kopparthy in YSR district was also cleared. Further, the Cabinet approved the move to hand over 20 acres for the testing centre through the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) in Amaravati. A GO issued to rename Rythu Bharosa Centres as Rythu Seva Centres was ratified by the Cabinet.
Move to set up Ex-servicemen Corporation welcomed
Ex-servicemen on Wednesday expressed their gratitude to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister K Pawan Kalyan for the Cabinet’s nod to setting up of a corporation for the welfare of ex-servicemen in the State. They expressed their happiness for recognising their services to the nation. During the Cabinet meeting, Principal Secretary (Home) Kumar Vishwajeet and Sainik Welfare Board Director Brigadier Venkat Reddy underlined the need for setting up a separate corporation for the welfare of ex-servicemen and their families.
