Getting a separate railway zone with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters is no easy task. It requires consent of Chhattisgarh and Odisha and the Union government was working towards this end, said BJP MLC P.V.N. Madhav.
Addressing the media here on Thursday, Mr. Madhav said a committee was set up by the NDA Government, and negotiations are on with the two States.
“Both the States have raised some issues and the zone cannot be carved out without their agreement. Since BJP is a national party it should view things in national perspective. But we are not ruling out the formation of a new railway zone with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters, it is only a matter of time,” he said.
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Charges refuted
He refuted the allegations made by TDP that the NDA government has not done anything for the State. He said “allegations are baseless and we have fulfilled almost all the promises. Some are pending due to the State government’s slow processing of papers.”
The crux of the problem is revenue deficit, which is mainly due to farm loan waiver and pension component. “The deficit is around ₹ 3000 crore and the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has assured to clear the bulk of it,” he said.
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Polavaram
Referring to Polavaram project, the NDA government has approved the initial outlay of ₹ 16000 crore and even declared it as a national project with full funding, he said.
“The project is very close to BJP, as we raised the issue by creating the Godavari Sadhana Samithi in 2008. The Union Government has arranged funding through NABARD to avert any delay in the project execution for want of funds,” he said.
Revised estimates
Stating that there are differences with regard to revised estimates which have gone up to ₹ 58,000 crore, he said the State Government was yet to submit final estimate.
“We are committed to completing Polavaram, but it is sad that the state government is giving a different picture,” said Mr. Madhav.
Referring to other projects, the MLC said of the ₹ 1500 crore sanctioned to the five smart cities ₹ 1000 crore was already released and of the ₹ 1000 crore promised to Visakhapatnam after Cyclone Hudhud ₹ 650 crore was released.
According to Mr. Madhav, under Schedule 13 of the AP Reorganisation Act-2014, all Central institutes such as IIT, NIIT, IIPE, IISER and IIM have already been set-up and being funded, except for the Tribal University and Central University.
“In this Union Budget ₹ 10 crore each was sanctioned for them and in the next Parliament session Central University bill will be passed. The land has been identified for Tribal University and foundation stone will be laid,” said.
Mr. Madhav alleged that funds for the institutes are being released by the Central Government from time to time, but the State Government was yet to hand overthe land to institutes such as IIPE and IIM in Visakhapatnam.