CM hints at decentralisation of admn.

By Our Special Correspondent

VISAKHAPATNAM, DEC. 28. In a major shift, the State Government will go for decentralisation of administration to achieve tangible results.

Announcing this at a press conference here on Thursday, the Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, said that the traditional path would be abandoned to take a new course where the village would be made the unit and the execution of the programmes would be taken up at the mandal-level. ``Already various concepts like DWCRA, Mothers Committees and Village Education Committees have created a sense of duty in people. Decentralisation of administration would make people work harder,'' he said.

Administrative reforms in the State were contemplated with a universally acceptable approach, he said, and added that without reforms, people could not progress and poverty alleviation and employment generation could not be achieved. ``This is possible only by decentralisation of administration,'' he asserted.

Explaining the process, he said that the Planning Boards of all districts would be strengthened further with the in-charge Ministers being vested with financial powers to take decisions independently for executing developmental works. The resources had to be mobilised locally, he said, and cited the example of the Visakhapatnam-Bheemunipatnam beach road which, though long and beautiful, had not been exploited so far for developing tourism. He was enchanted by Vizag, which was better than any other city like Hong Kong and Singapore. Besides tourism, information technology and industry were other areas where the city had tremendous potential, he said.

Similarly, East Godavari district had the potential for setting up major industries as there were power generation units. Prioritisation was important and the areas of development would be decided on the basis of the local resources, human resources and opportunities. ``An integrated approach is needed for development. We are able to fix total accountability through IT. We will recognise those who are efficient and give them full support,'' he said.

The Chief Minister made it clear that there would not be frequent meetings in the New Year. It was important that the policies and programmes were sustained for which some changes were necessary.

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Section  : Southern States
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