Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has taken pains to explain the burden on the exchequer caused by implementation of a host of welfare schemes by his government.
The people should understand the heart the government has for the poor, he said while participating in the launch of the ‘Amma Hastam’ at a well-attended public meeting in Vepagunta near here on Saturday.
He said the government was paying Rs. 24 out of Rs. 25 per kg being supplied to the 2-crore white cardholders in the State. Every beneficiary would pay a mere Rs.1 per kg.
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The ‘Amma Hastham’ scheme came into being because womenfolk asked for it.
The scheme is an integrated food basket of nine essential commodities, including wheat flour, tamarind, palm oil, turmeric, salt, chilli powder, wheat, yellow gram, and sugar. These quality essentials worth Rs.292, which are used in the preparation of healthy food on a daily basis, are given to the beneficiaries at a subsidised cost of Rs.185.
Under the ‘Indiramma Kalalu’ programme, the cost of weaker section housing per unit had been increased from Rs.45,000 to Rs.65,000 and for SC and ST beneficiaries it was Rs.1 lakh and Rs.1.05 lakh respectively.
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Even on the power front, he explained that about 1.80 crore rural poor were paying Rs.1.40 per unit while the government was shelling out Rs.3.80 per unit on their behalf. While the government had been bearing the burden of the poor man and subsidising the cost of living, the opposition parties had been agitating on behalf of the 3 lakh power consumers who were consuming more than 500 units.
The Chief Minister also promised to take up the 4-lane Sabbavaram-Anandapuram Road to divert the inter-State cargo traffic from the city. The government was going to spend Rs.1,000 crore for developing several road projects in the district, he said.
Earlier, district in-charge Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao and Civil Supplies Minister Sridhar Babu spoke.
Pendurthi MLA Panchakarla Ramesh Babu presided. Ministers — P. Balaraju and Ganta Srinivasa Rao — and MLAs’ — Malla Vijaya Prasad, Tynala Vijaya Kumar, Dronamraju Sreenivas, M. Sreenivasa Rao — and district Collector V. Seshadri were present.