YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the party would extend a financial assistance of ₹75,000 each to women from SC/ST/BC and minority communities and fulfil the promise made by the late Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy if elected to power.
Addressing a public meeting at K. Kotapadu as part of his ongoing Praja Sankalpa Yatra in the district on Monday, Mr. Reddy said that he would fulfil the dream of the late Chief Minister to turn ‘women into lakhiers’ through the ‘YSR Cheyutha’ scheme.
He said that the amount would be released in four instalments through the respective corporations. Eligible women from these groups would be given pensions at the age of 45 itself.
Mr. Reddy came down on Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu for making allegations on the YSRCP.
He said that some Muslim youths were taken into custody by the police and tortured, when they questioned the implementation of promises made to the minorities to the government at the ‘Nara Hamara-TDP Hamara’meeting in Guntur. He alleged that sedition cases were also booked on the Muslim youths. The Chief Minister was now saying that these youths belong to the YSRCP.
‘Sugar co-ops neglected’
Mr. Reddy said that 20,000 farmers were dependent on the Chodavaram sugar factory but whenever Mr. Naidu became Chief Minister, cooperative sugar factories and dairies were closing down. During the earlier stint of Mr. Naidu also Chodavaram Sugars had suffered losses to the tune of ₹45 crore.
Quoting farmers, he alleged that strategy of Mr. Naidu was to push the cooperatives into losses and then hand over the factories to benamis at throwaway prices. An attempt was made to hand over the sugar factory to a well-known TDP leader and MLC of Visakhapatnam but the farmers approached the court and prevented it.
Subsequently, during the rule of YSR , the sugar factory put on the road to recovery and profits. He alleged that while the price of sugarcane was ₹3,000 a quintal, it was being sold to a relative of a TDP leader for ₹1,100.
Mr. Reddy alleged rampant corruption in the implementation of the Polavaram project and said that Mr. Naidu has no intention of completing it. He said that if the YSRCP was voted to power, it would not only complete Polavaram project but also ensure that Raiwada water was not diverted to Visakhapatnam city.
