The State government has directly credited ₹95,529 crore into the bank accounts of beneficiaries of various welfare schemes in the last two years, and has indirectly spent over ₹36,198 crore on certain other schemes, aggregating ₹1.31 lakh crore.
It is in fulfilment of a majority of the promises Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had made in the run-up to the elections in 2019, according to an official release, in which the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme has been claimed to have rooted out corruption by eliminating middlemen.
The overwhelming mandate in the panchayat and municipal elections, and in the Tirupati Lok Sabha byelection endorsed the governance of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the release claimed.
Pensions and benefits under several welfare schemes were being door-delivered to the eligible people through the village and ward volunteers on the first of every month, the release said.
The government fulfilled all the promises in two years in spite of COVID-19’s devastating blow to the economy, it was observed.
Healthcare
On the healthcare front, the government took effective measures for the distribution of oxygen and vaccines as part of its fight against the virus, the release said.
In fact, Andhra Pradesh was the first State to bring the treatment for COVID-19 and black fungus under the Dr. YSR Aarogyasri scheme. The government had spent ₹2,229 crore on COVID-19 treatment in the last 14 months, and was in the process of setting up oxygen plants keeping in view the future requirement, it said.
A special focus was laid on upgrading the Aarogyasri scheme, which made it applicable to all families with an annual income of ₹5 lakh. The number of procedures done in the empanelled hospitals had been increased to 2,434. Modernisation of hospitals was undertaken on a large scale under the Nadu-Nedu programme.
Besides, the government embarked on the construction of 16 new medical colleges and three cancer and two kidney speciality hospitals, along with six multi-speciality hospitals in the ITDA areas.
Education sector
In the education sector, the government started a major revamp of schools and was providing English medium education, apart from supporting the families with welfare schemes such as Vidya Deevena, Vasathi Deevena, Amma Vodi, and Vidya Kanuka. The government had spent ₹25,714 crore in two years on these programmes.
Further, the government had decided to implement CBSE syllabus from 2021-22 academic year for improving the academic standards of students and converting the anganwadis into YSR Pre Primary Schools.
Rythu Bharosa
The government had spent ₹83,000 crore on the welfare of farmers, including ₹17,029 crore on Rythu Bharosa. A sum of ₹1,038 crore had been paid to 13.56 lakh farmers towards compensation for crops damaged, the release claimed.
The government had extended financial assistance to women amounting to ₹82,369 crore in the last two years under various schemes. MoUs had been signed with reputed companies in fields such as agriculture, retail, marketing and dairy.
Substantial financial aid had been provided under a plethora of schemes in the two years towards betterment of the living conditions of people and greater emphasis was laid on good governance, the release said.
