Stating that Andhra Pradesh suffered revenue losses due to its bifurcation and the COVID-19 pandemic, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, April 5 sought relaxation in the credit limit of the state, and early approval to the revised estimate of Rs 55,548.87 crore for the Polavaram irrigation project. During the hour-long meeting, the chief minister brought to the notice of the prime minister many of the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act-2014 that have still not been implemented, official sources said.
According to an official statement, the chief minister said that the state government has lost revenue due to bifurcation and the COVID-19 pandemic and "urged the prime minister to relax credit limit of the state." The state government has spent Rs 32,625.25 crore in the form of pending bills during the bifurcation and for the implementation of 10th Wage Commission recommendations, he said and urged the prime minister to fill the revenue deficit.
Jagan also requested Modi for early approval of the revised cost estimate of the Polavaram National Irrigation Project amounting to Rs 55,548.87 crore at the 2017-18 price level. Noting that Rs 31,118 crore needs to be spent on the project -- Rs 8,590 crore for construction and Rs 22,598 crore for rehabilitation -- he requested for clearance of the bills in toto, and not component-wise. Jagan also sought direct transfer of rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) package amount to the accounts of beneficiaries without any delay.
During his interaction with Modi, the chief minister flagged the inadequate coverage of beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act. "While the state government is providing ration to 1.45 crore families, only 0.89 crore families are receiving ration from the central government," he said and requested PM Modi to provide ration as per the revised state data.
Renewal of approval of the site clearances for greenfield international airport at Bhogapuram, setting up of an Integrated Steel Plant in YSR district, allotment of beach sand minerals to Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation in sixteen places, and approval for setting up of another 12 teaching hospitals in the state were some of the major issues discussed in the meeting.
The chief minister also sought the prime minister's intervention in resolving the dispute over electricity arrears between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh pending since the bifurcation of the erstwhile state in June 2014. An amount of Rs 6,455.76 crore is receivable by Andhra Pradesh Generation Corporation Limited (APGENCO) from the Telangana State Distribution Utilities and Telangana Discoms, he added. This was Jagan’s second meeting with Modi this year.
Jagan also called on Union Home Minister Amit Shah and sought early implementation of the pending provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. In the meeting, the chief minister requested Shah to expedite the division of assets worth crores of rupees listed under Schedules IX and X of the Act, official sources said.
It may be noted that Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai had said in Rajya Sabha in February this year that the division of assets between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana under the Act can be undertaken in an expedited manner with mutual agreement and that the Union government can act only as a coordinating agency.
Rai had also said that a committee has been formed for the division of institutions under Schedule IX. Out of 90 institutions, Telangana has no objection to dividing 68 institutions. But Andhra Pradesh has agreed to the division of only 33 institutions out of these 68.
Under Schedule X of the Act, there are 112 training institutions. But there is no provision for division of these assets under Section 75. However, the Andhra Pradesh government wants division of these assets according to population and Telangana wants it based on their current locations, the minister had said.
The chief minister, in his meeting with Shah, reiterated the state's demands and stressed the need for fulfilling the remaining provisions of the Act. Later, Jagan called on Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and discussed issues pertaining to his state.