The Central government has announced release of Rs. 1,976 crore as additional assistance to Andhra Pradesh giving a sigh of relief to the cash-strapped State.
Of the total sum assured, Rs. 1,176 crore would be towards bridging the revenue deficit. The Centre also sanctioned Rs. 350 crore at Rs. 50 crore each for the seven backward districts – three in north coastal Andhra and four in Rayalaseema – and another Rs. 450 crore towards the construction of the new Capital Amaravati.
The Finance Ministry released order to this effect on Thursday and the money is expected to be transferred to the State’s account on Friday. The release follows Rs. 2,303 crore released for the fiscal year 2014-15. The State will still be left with a huge gap as the projected revenue deficit for the 2014-15 fiscal had been fixed at Rs. 14,430 crore which was even confirmed by the Accountant General.
Union Minister Y. Satyanarayana (Sujana) Chowdary, who has been lobbying hard for liberal Central assistance to tide over the ongoing crisis, however, said the latest announcement was part of the special package promised to the State. “More assistance is in the pipeline,” he told The Hindu .
SCS demand under study According to sources, the release follows the instructions from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office. The Prime Minister is learnt to have taken a decision on extending assistance to Andhra Pradesh following his meetings with Union Ministers Arun Jaitley and M. Venkaiah Naidu.
The Union government, particularly the Home Ministry, is understood to be actively examining the feasibility of granting Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh and the Ministries concerned could not arrive at a decision so far owing to certain technicalities involved in the matter.