The Hindu : Reform agenda not abandoned: Naidu

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 10, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh

Reform agenda not abandoned: Naidu

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD JUNE 9. The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, today defended the host of sops offered by his Government to weaker sections by asserting that it had only `re-oriented' the welfare measures and not abandoned the reform agenda being pursued vigorously for seven years.

He was of the firm view that the Government while implementing reforms had the responsibility of shielding the poor and vulnerable sections from drought and developing the backward regions.

This was why it had given a boost to agriculture, which contributes 17-18 per cent of the GSDP, by way of interest waiver, crop insurance and subsidies worth more than Rs. 600 crores.

Inaugurating a two-day conference of district Collectors at the Jubilee Hall, Mr. Naidu held that reforms would set in motion faster development, reduce Government expenditure and ensure value for money.

Reforms, he said, were a global phenomenon `reforms with a human face' the motto of all countries, including China, which had one-party rule.

Mr. Naidu did not refer to any plans for future reforms and only narrated how his Government's economic, administrative, labour and administrative reforms had yielded results as exemplified by the financial turnaround of Singareni Collieries and the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad.

His 90-minute-long speech was dominated by a detailed explanation of the `one crore boons' unveiled by him at the TDP's Mahanadu and approved by the Cabinet last week.

He asked the Collectors to focus their energies on improving the lot of the targeted sections and help them in fighting poverty.

Outlining some of the boons, he said the Government would distribute 10 lakh house sites, 10 lakh ration cards, 10 lakh gas cylinders, build 6.47 lakh pucca houses and 37.5 lakh individual sanitary latrines and disburse economic benefits to lakhs of others comprising the SCs, STs, BCs, minorities and women.

Making it clear that agriculture should receive high priority, he asked the Collectors to motivate farmers to go in for crops suitable to local conditions. Anantapur district, he said, was ripe for such motivation since farmers were going in for paddy in spite of the low rainfall of about 250-270 mm last year.

The Chief Minister reminded the Collectors of the growing expectations of people from them and their changing role as facilitators.

Underlining the importance of good governance, he said Bihar was not achieving the desired levels of development in spite of possessing vast natural resources.

On the other hand, Southern States were progressing well due to better governance.

Mr. Naidu pointed out that AP's GSDP growth rate had dropped from a healthy 5.70 per cent in 2000-01 to 3.79 per cent in 2001-02 and 2.58 per cent due to the severe drought.

However, he drew satisfaction from the fact that AP had been rated as the fastest growing State.

Notwithstanding setback in the short run, the State was on track to achieve targets under Vision 2020.

The Chief Secretary, Mohan Kanda, welcomed the Ministers, senior bureaucrats and Collectors to the meeting.

Earlier, the Chief Minister told reporters in an informal chat that the Government would fix district-wise targets for distribution of the welfare measures and review the progress thoroughly every month.

"We will forge ahead on the basis of a time-bound programme. Our target is to complete all these welfare measures within one year,'' he said.

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