The Telugu Desam Party has announced a series of measures to effectively manage core sectors like agriculture, welfare, health and youth empowerment if it is voted to power in the successor State of Andhra Pradesh.
The party showered a spree of sops to agriculture sector, the primary one being waiver of loans given to farmers, and setting up market intervention fund to rescue farmers in the event of price fluctuations in the market, a not so infrequent phenomenon. The party has also focussed attention on youth empowerment by assuring several measures in line with its promise of providing a job to each household.
The TDP, in its manifesto, has announced a separate budget for agriculture sector in addition to Rs. 5,000-crore market intervention fund for rescuing farmers during price fluctuations. Farm sector will be effectively linked with the employment guarantee scheme so that farm labour is given their due. Measures had been suggested to mitigate the frequent power crisis, including development of solar and wind power generation corridor in Anantapur and Kurnool districts.
Farmers opting for solar powered pumpsets will be given 75 per cent subsidy while the recommendations of the M.S. Swaminathan Commission would be implemented in full. The TDP will set up a state-of-art International Agriculture Solutions Institute for disseminating solutions using latest technologies to farmers.
On the education and employment front, the manifesto assures setting up of skill development and placement centres in all colleges while the Government would announce a recruitment calendar every year. The TDP assured an unemployment allowance of Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 2,000 a month to youth till they secure a job.
Several incentives will be given to employees, a section that reportedly distanced itself from the TDP during its nine-year regime. Accordingly, the retirement age will be enhanced to 60 and a five-day week will be implemented in all Government offices. There is an offer for regularisation of services of close to six lakh contract, contingency and outsourcing employees in phases. On the healthcare front, the budget for the sector would be enhanced to at least 3.6 per cent of the State GSDP. Poor and lower income group families will be given healthcards under the NTR health scheme, a modified version of Arogyasri covering more ailments. While corporate hospitals would be set up at district and mandal headquarters, a State level agency will be set up to monitor the sector as a whole.
Measures are assured for middle class families like Rs. 1,000 crore corpus that would be utilised for stabilisation of prices and 12 cylinders a year to families with Rs. 100 subsidy on each cylinder without insistence on Aadhar cards. “The new State is expected to face a revenue deficit of over Rs. 10,000 crore and the people are hurt at the manner in which the division has been done,” TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu says.
People are looking at a strong leadership that can ensure accelerated development and the TDP has proven track record in this direction. According to Mr. Naidu, raising funds required for setting up the infrastructure should not be a problem as the Centre had assured concessions to the new State post bifurcation while the TDP Government was committed to rationalise taxes and plug leakages. The government would consult business bodies like Ficci, Assocham and others for reforming tax system and introducing global best practices for effectively monitoring tax collection system.
