TDP national spokesman K. Pattabhiram on Saturday slammed the ruling YSRCP leaders for what he called “ruining the reputation of AP FiberNet,” a model project launched during the Chandrababu Naidu term.
At a press conference, Mr. Pattabhiram said that the YSRCP allegation of corruption to the tune of ₹2,000 crore in the project did not hold water as the total cost of the project was only ₹770 crore.
He said the Chief Minister and his advisers were trying to divert the people’s attention from the failures of the government.
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Pointing out that connections under the project had been given to 5,300 villages under 658 mandals in the State, he said that Mr. Naidu had initiated the project in the unified State. Later, it was neglected by the Congress government, but the TDP had brought its sheen back in the residual State, he added.
The TDP leader said that in a span on 18 months, over 2,500 points of pressure (PoPs) were set up across the State to provide connections to all villages.
Impressed by the project, the then Union Secretary, Department of Telecommunication, headed a Central team to study the project and replicate it in other places in the country, he said.
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At a Digital India meeting, even the Prime Minister had showered praise on the project and had asked others to follow suit, the TDP leader said.