Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy increased the pension for the elderly from the current ₹2,000 a month to ₹3,000 in phases over four years.
This is the first file he signed after being sworn in as Chief Minister a little after noon at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium here on Thursday.
Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan administered the oath to Mr. Jagan.
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and DMK president M.K. Stalin attended the ceremony.
Speaking to the newly elected YSR Congress Party MLAs, MPs, activists and sympathisers after being sworn in, Mr. Jagan said the implementation of the ‘Navaratnas’ — nine welfare measures announced in the party manifesto — was the top priority of his government.
He said parties should go for the next election on the basis of how election promises were implemented.
Jobless to be hired
As part of the implementation of the ‘Navaratnas’, Mr. Jagan announced that four lakh jobless youth would be recruited as volunteers to door deliver these schemes by August 15.
One volunteer would be hired for every 50 households and they would be paid ₹5,000 a month until they got a better job, he said.
Creating the machinery needed for implementing the ‘Navaratnas’, 1.6 lakh government jobs would be created by constituting village secretariats who would approve all welfare schemes and benefits for the poor without any corruption or discrimination, by Gandhi Jayanthi this year. Village secretariats would clear all applications within 72 hours.
Tenders to be reviewed
A Judicial Commission would be constituted with a sitting High Court Judge as chairman with the express purpose of reviewing the current tendering process and contract system and recommending reforms to root out corruption and increase transparency. Going for “reverse tendering process” the government would bring to light the corruption of the previous government. The benefit the government got from tenders and contracts would be made public, he said. The government would also move court against media that indulged in biased and baseless reporting, Mr. Jagan said.
Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao said it was not a time to “cross swords, but to shake hands.” Saying Mr. Jagan had been given a great opportunity, he said if Andhra Pradesh and Telangana worked together, a lot could be achieved.
