VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has emphasised his government’s commitment to people-centric welfare and efficient administration while distributing NTR Bharosa pensions directly to beneficiaries at Peddannavaripalli in Sri Satya Sai district on Saturday.
Addressing a public meeting after distributing NTR Bharosa pensions to the poor, he emphasised his hands-on approach as a people’s leader. “Unlike previous rulers who pressed buttons from home, I personally distribute pensions every month to stay connected with the people. I don’t hide behind curtains during tours,” Naidu said. He highlighted the coalition’s 94% strike rate in elections, crediting it for prioritising welfare and efficient administration.
Criticising past governance, Naidu noted that the previous regime employed 2.65 lakh volunteers just to deliver one pension, yet the current government completes distribution in three hours. “They travelled by helicopter, cutting down trees below. People must recognise the difference now,” he urged, adding that the TDP’s development achievements in Andhra Pradesh were destroyed by successors, forcing a restart.
Praising the BJP’s 25-year rule in Gujarat for development, Naidu warned that rebuilding destroyed infrastructure is challenging and called for public cooperation to ensure lasting progress.
Naidu described the State’s pension scheme as the largest Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in India. “No other state provides pensions on this scale. We responsibly cover 28 categories, including the elderly, widows, disabled, weavers, and toddy tappers, spending Rs 33,000 crore annually. Since the coalition took over, we have expended Rs 50,764 crore — a national record. Of this, 59% (Rs 29,951 crore) goes to women,” he said.
With a state population of 4.93 crore, 13% receive pensions. “The previous government denied widow pensions to wives of deceased old-age pensioners, but we approve them immediately. This month, 8,151 new widow pensions were sanctioned. We also released Rs 127 crore to 1,55,398 beneficiaries pending for two months and Rs 16 crore to 13,026 pending for three,” Naidu added.
The Chief Minister credited technology for significantly reducing losses from the recent Montha cyclone. “Early warnings were issued, estimating Rs 5,244 crore in asset damage statewide, with two fatalities. Ministers, MLAs, MPs, and officials provided ground-level relief. From Chief Secretary to field staff, everyone alerted the public and evacuated them to safe areas,” he said.
Naidu cautioned people against a ‘fake party’ spreading misinformation amid the State’s progress in development and welfare. “Their lives are fake. They supplied water even to Pulivendula but resorted to axe violence. They killed a relative with an axe, blamed me while I was CM, then flipped after Viveka’s daughter complained,” he alleged.
He accused thwem of petty politics over a Kurnool bus accident, falsely blaming spurious liquor, despite the bus being Odisha-registered and operating between Hyderabad and Bengaluru. “I will write to the Centre on inter-state vehicle registrations. Must I counter fake propaganda daily?” he questioned.
Citing a court sentencing five to death in the decade-old Chittoor ex-mayor couple murder, Naidu said, “Justice may be delayed but it triumphs. No wrongdoer escapes government surveillance.”
Balancing development and welfare, he noted Google’s Rs 1.33 lakh crore data centre in Visakhapatnam due to NDA trust, upcoming summits attracting investments, and Kia’s arrival in Anantapur under past TDP rule.
He said, “We turned drought-hit Rayalaseema into a gem, introduced input subsidies, greened Anantapur, and filled tanks. Critics who couldn’t supply water to Pulivendula, now politicise it for gain.”
