Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday called on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave and NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya.
Talking to the media after the meetings, Mr. Naidu said the Finance Minister had assured him that benefits under the Centrally-sponsored schemes and others as part of the special status would be given.
According to him, the Union Cabinet had already given its approval to the proposal and it would be implemented.
“He also advised our Chief Secretary and Expenditure Secretary in the Finance Ministry to discuss this. An action plan will be drawn up.” On deficit finance, the Chief Minister said: “We had sought benefits under the Centrally-sponsored schemes and remaining benefits as part of special status worth Rs. 6,000 crore. The GoI has so far released Rs. 3,900 crore. The rest will be given as soon as possible.”
CM for U.S. today
Mr. Naidu requested Mr. Tomar to release the NREGA material component balance of Rs. 3,500 crores. “We raised objections to some data generated by the Centre on the AP housing schemes. We advised them to conduct a survey regarding this. On core connectivity under rural connectivity scheme, we have asked them to issue funds according to the eligibility of each State and not to depend on wrong data. The Minister said it would be examined. We are planning to send data to the government with all facts in GOS and GPS.”
Vijayawada Staff Reporter adds: Mr. Naidu and his team will leave for the U.S. on Thursday.
The 16-member team comprising Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, Government Advisor (Communications) Parakala Prabhakar and senior officials will visit Washington DC, San Francisco, California, New York, Chicago and other States. Agreements for sister-state relations with California, Illinois and Iowa, and bilateral meetings with 35 CEOs of some of the world’s biggest companies will be the highlights of the tour.
Mr. Naidu will receive the ‘Transformative Chief Minister Award’ during the United States-India Business Council West Coast Summit in Silicon Valley on May 8.
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