Industries Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy on Sunday slammed Jana Sena Party (JSP) president Pawan Kalyan for “falsely accusing” the government over the Divi’s Laboratories unit issue.
The Minister said that Mr. Pawan Kalyan was speaking without any knowledge and misleading the people.
Reacting to Mr. Pawan Kalyan’s observations during a public meeting he had addressed on Saturday in East Godavari district, Mr. Goutham Reddy accused the JSP chief of instigating the youth of the district.
The State Government had made it clear to the Divi’s management not to proceed further without resolving the issues concerning the people, and had constituted a committee with experts from both the Industries and Fisheries departments for the purpose, the Minister told the media here along with his Cabinet colleagues A. Suresh and P. Anil Kumar on the eve of the launch of the second phase of the Amma Vodi scheme.
It was the TDP government that had given the green signal for the unit in 2015. “What was Mr. Pawan Kalyan doing then?” the Minister asked.
Jobs for local youth
In 2019, the YSRCP government had made it mandatory to provide 75% jobs for local youth in new industrial units coming up in the State. First preference was being given to the families of the village concerned that had parted with their land for the industrial units. Second preference was being given to those in the mandal concerned and the third preference for those in the district concerned, the Minister explained.
The State government had also designed courses to hone the skills of local youth to improve their employability, he added.
If the JSP chief was sincere about the people’s health, he should ask the State Election Commissioner (SEC) to stop the local body elections, the dates of which clashed with the COVID-19 immunisation programme.
Dig at SEC
Mr. Suresh accused the SEC of causing hurdles in the implementation of welfare schemes, and made it clear that the government would go ahead with the launch of the Amma Vodi adhering to the Model Code of Conduct.
“We are not afraid of facing the elections. We are only concerned about the health of the people,” Mr. Suresh said.
Mr. Anil Kumar opined that the elections were timed to benefit the TDP, which was sure to lose deposit in the ensuing Tirupati byelection.
TDP would find it difficult to select candidates for the local body elections if they were held after the byelection, Mr. Anil Kumar asserted.
