Raising an objection to what he called a misinformation campaign by Opposition leader N. Chandrababu Naidu against Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s determination to expose the corruption in various projects, Water Resources Minister P. Anil Kumar asserted that the judicial commission being formed by the government would recommend action against the culprits if rules were broken and give a clean chit if the prices were not escalated and procedures were followed.
“If nothing wrong happened during Chandrababu Naidu’s reign, why should he fear and create the wrong impression that the government would pull the plug on Polavaram, Amaravati and other projects?” Mr. Anil Kumar questioned, stating that the government was just over 10 days old and it was too early to judge its performance.
Addressing the media along with Agriculture Minister K. Kanna Babu at the Secretariat on Wednesday, Mr. Anil Kumar asked Mr. Naidu to name one major project which was completed during his tenure as the Chief Minister and declared the government’s intention to complete the projects under Jalayagnam programme initiated by former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, in the next five years.
He denied that no one has made a sweeping announcement that the projects grounded by the TDP government would be stopped and clarified that projects found to be in order would move forward. Necessary action would be taken in respect of projects where corruption took place but it did not mean that they would be shelved altogether.
Dig at previous govt.
Mr. Kanna Babu said the TDP government owed ₹2,000 crore to the farmers towards input subsidy and without clearing it, Mr. Naidu launched Annadata Sukhibhava scheme in the run-up to elections to garner votes.
Huge sums were pending from the Central government under programmes implemented by the Agriculture Department as the TDP government had failed to submit utilisation certificates. The YSR Congress government would take steps to rescue farmers from distress. The Rythu Bharosa scheme would cover nearly 15 lakh tenant farmers, Mr. Kanna Babu said and added that welfare of the farmers and women was the government’s top priority.
