Rs.30 cr. more for drinking water supply

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, SEPT. 3. The Government has released an additional Rs. 30 crores for drinking water supply as the State continues to reel under drought. The Cabinet, which reviewed the drought situation on Monday, approved the release.

Briefing the media, the Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, presented a grim picture of the drought scenario and listed the steps taken to mitigate the hardship of the affected people.

Rainfall was 24 per cent short of the normal while crops were sown on only 50 lakh hectares of a normal of 70 lakh ha. Even these were drying for want of rain. Prakasam was the worst-hit as only 22 per cent of the normal area was sown followed by Cuddapah with 45 per cent and Kurnool 50 per cent. The average deficit was 28 per cent. Storage in major reservoirs was very low and the inflows meagre.

The Government earlier released Rs. 165 crores for various works. The Centre was yet to release any funds for drought relief in response to its plea for sanction of Rs. 850 crores. The State also sought additional Rs. 100 crores for self- employment works. Delhi sanctioned 3 lakh tonnes of rice under `food-for-work' programme while request for another 3 lakh tonnes was pending. The first instalment of rice was already with the ration shops and under distribution in the drought-affected areas.

The Chief Minister said clear instructions had gone to Collectors to take up asset creation works to provide employment wherever people wanted it. It was the duty of mandal offices to create work. The focus was on creating maximum work. The district planning committee, zilla parishads and gram panchayats should meet compulsorily to discuss implementation of the drought works.

Grey areas were being identified and permission given to take up digging of kuntas (minor tanks) in private lands, for which NABARD assistance and Government subsidy would be available.

Report on SC/ST atrocities

The Cabinet set up a sub-committee to study the 42 recommendations of the Justice K. Punnaiah Commission of Inquiry into atrocities on SCs/STs and other weaker sections and formulate an implementable action plan. It also enhanced the fine from Rs. 200 to Rs. 2500 for violation of guidelines relating to prevention of cruelty to animals, particularly in transporting them.

It okayed the proposal to extend the status of Urdu as the second official language in five more districts - Nellore, Chittoor, Mahbubnagar, Warangal and Adilabad.

The Cabinet cleared the proposed legislation replacing the ordinance on settlement of sales tax disputes. It will be tabled in the ensuing Assembly session. There are about 7000 cases of dispute in various appellate bodies involving Rs. 1200 crores.

The Chief Minister said 250 acres of land near Maheswaram in Ranga Reddy district would be given to Sylvan International, a subsidiary of Sylvan Learning Systems of the USA, for setting up a premier institute for imparting training in information technology, engineering, management, hotel management etc. The allotment at Rs. 90,000 per acre was subject to certain conditions and progressive increase in number of students admitted (from 500 by December 31, 2002 to 6000 by 2008-end) and investments (from 3 million US dollars to 30.37 US $).

The Cabinet agreed to give no-objection certificate to the Singareni collieries to lease 6 identified blocks to the private sector for prospecting and mining coal for captive consumption. The collieries will lease out only such blocks where mining by it is `expensive'.

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