Ahead of elections to the Kakinada Municipal Corporation, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday made a series of promises to the people here including setting up the Rs. 32,000 crore petro chemical complex, completing the long-pending underground drainage project, solid waste management plant and improving connectivity by building one more road over bridge in addition to the existing two and an outer ring road, besides establishing urban development authority with Kakinada, Rajamahendravaram, Peddapuram, Samalkot, Pithapuram and Rajanagaram towns.
“I am here to provide whatever you want. In return, I request you to support me in the days to come,” Mr. Naidu said while addressing a public meeting at the Ananda Bharati Grounds here.
After flagging off ‘Arogya Andhra Pradesh’ rally and interacting with the slum dwellers of Ramakrishnapuram, the Chief Minister addressed the public about the importance of building individual sanitary latrines, keeping the surroundings clean and getting rid of the mosquito menace to protect themselves from diseases.
“Not just your houses and the surroundings clean, but you should also ensure that your minds too are clean. As some elements are trying to pollute your minds, it is high time for you to stay away from those forces and be with me in the future too,” he said, while lambasting the Opposition YSR Congress Party for “obstructing the development of the State by several means.” Explaining in detail the various initiatives taken up by the State government – from releasing pensions to the aged and the disabled to setting up corporations for the Kapus and the Brahmins – Mr. Naidu said that justice would be rendered to the Kapus, as the Justice Manjuantha Commission was on the job of studying the socio economic conditions of the community. “I have fulfilled all the promises made to the public during the general elections. In fact, I have done more than what I had promised to you,” he said, claiming that the farmers were bailed out of crop loans to the tune of Rs. 24,000 crore, while the members of women self-help groups were given Rs. 10,000 each to get rid of their debts.
Stating that he had a special place for East Godavari district, Mr. Naidu called upon the public to make use of the available resources so that more and more employment opportunities could be generated. “We are keen on completing the Polavaram irrigation project. In the meanwhile, we have undertaken Purushottamapatnam lift irrigation scheme to benefit the north Andhra region. Similarly, the Buckingham Canal project would connect Kakinada to Pondicherry and Telangana,” he said.
During an interactive session, Lakshmipathi Varma, a student of Zilla Parishad High School at Patarlagadda in Karapa mandal of Kakinda rural mandal, complained of absence of sanitation around his school and the building was turning into a den for the drunkards during the night times.
The Chief Minister ordered the officials of the Education Department to take steps to keep the school clean. “Schools are more important than temples,” he said.
Ministers Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, N. Chinarajappa, Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, Kakinada MP Tota Narasimham, officials and local elected representatives were present.
