YSR schemes will be continued: Rosaiah

The Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, assured that he will continue all the welfare schemes initiateded by the former chief minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, and that is part of his agenda. He said his Cabinet colleagues and MLAs advised him to introduce new schemes to show his mark on the administration. He felt instead of introducing new schemes it is better to continue the welfare schemes introduced by the former chief minister. Though 12 chief ministers ruled the state it was YSR who made a mark on the administration and the people of the Andhra Pradesh will never forget him, he said.

Mr Rosaiah said that till March 2004, the state government had given 18 lakh pensions to the poor and during the last five years the state government increased the number of beneficiaries to 74,30,000 in the state. Financial assistance to pension beneficiaries was increased to Rs 200 per month from Rs 75, he said. Similarly, pension for the challenged was increased to Rs 500 per month, he said. He reminded that whenever oil and onion prices increased the government supplied oil and onions at a subsidy for the sake of the poor people.

The Chief Minister said he spoke to the Central agriculture minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, to purchase paddy from the farmers. He said Mr Pawar directed the officials to take steps to purchase the damaged paddy also. Though severe drought and floods affected the state, the government is continuing all the welfare schemes, he said.

Earlier, he inaugurated the Rajiv Swagruha housing complex constructed for the poor at cost of Rs 5.25 crore in Guntur west Assembly segment and distributed the allotment letters to two beneficiaries.

The minister for major industries, Mr Kanna Lakshmi Narayana, requested the Chief Minister to direct the officials to speed up land acquisition process for the distribute house sites to the poor. The union minister of state for textiles, Ms Panabaka Lakshmi, the minister for endowments, Mr Gade Venkata Reddy, the minister for technical education, Mr Mopidevi Venkata Ramana, the minister for secondary education, Mr Dokka Manikya Vara Prasad, deputy chairman in the state legislative council, Mr Mohammad Jani, the Guntur MP, Mr Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, MLCs, Mr T.G.V. Krishna Reddy, Dr Rayapti Srinivas, Mr Singam Basava Punnaiah, Mr K.S. Lakhsmana Rao, mayor Mr Rayapati Mohana Saikrishna, MLAs, Mr Kasu Venkata Krishna Reddy, Ms Kandru Kamala, Ms Mekathoti Sucharitha, Mr Pennalli Ramakrishna Reddy, zilla parishad chairman, Ms Kuchipudi Vijaya, district collector, Mr B. Ramanjaneyulu and the superintendent of police, Mr D.C.Chauhan, participated. The Guntur west MLA, Mr Shaik Mastan Vali, presided over the meeting.

Sakshi reports anger Rosaiah

The Cabinet meeting on Thursday witnessed a row between the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, and a group of ministers over the ‘leakage’ of secrets which deteriorated into offers of resignations from both sides.

An angry transport minister, Mr S. Vijayarama Raju, offered to quit if the Chief Minister did not trust him and added that several ministers were willing to follow suit. In a sharp response, Mr Rosaiah is believed to have said that he would be the first to step down. “Ok. Welcome. I will quit first if at all someone has to resign,” he quipped.

The trouble started when the Chief Minister made a sarcastic comment that the issues discussed in the Cabinet were leaked despite every minister claiming to be honest. Mr Raju then got up and told Mr Rosaiah that there was no meaning in the ministers continuing in the cabinet when the Chief Minister did not trust them.

“It seems you have no confidence in us,” he said. “We are branded as YSR group. I think our resignations will end this suspicion.” Mr Raju said several ministers were of the same view and will quit enabling the CM to fill the Cabinet with people of his choice.

The actual grouse of Mr Rosaiah was no minister was condemning reports published by Sakshi, a Telugu daily owned by Kadapa MP Mr Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy showing the government in poor light.

A.P. can have 44 Ministers: Rosaiah

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah said here on Monday that he felt the need to expand his Cabinet as there are only 34 Ministers now.

Speaking to newspersons, the Chief Minister pointed out that the State could have up to 44 Ministers as per the recommendations of Sarkaria Commission and that he would expand the Cabinet at an appropriate time.

Mr. Rosaiah refuted the criticism that the Planning Commission had rebuffed the government for increased revenue expenditure vis-a-vis plan expenditure. It had approved the State plan with an outlay of Rs. 36,800 crore, one of the largest in the country, and appreciated the performance of the State government.

The Planning Commission had made a general comment that revenue expenditure should be reduced and plan expenditure increased for better growth. This expert opinion would apply to all States and also the Centre, he observed.

The Chief Minister refuted the charge that the government is earning enormous revenue through excise. Stating that Congress had never promised total prohibition, he said it would strive to wean away people from liquor in a phased manner.

Earlier, at the Praja Patham programme, people residing in the sea shore village of Katarivaripalem revealed they did not have any problem of drinking water or power supply. As the water sources were salinated due to the tsunami in December 2006, Rotary and Assist provided drinking water using reverse osmosis technique. District Collector Kantilal Dande said the people were seeking distribution lines for tap connections.
Express gratitude

Farmers thanked Mr. Rosaiah for sanctioning lift irrigation scheme at a cost of Rs. 5 crore to irrigate 1,400 acres in the village. They sought cement lining of canal to extend water supply to 600 acres more. He also agreed to construct second summer storage tank for Chirala at a cost of Rs. 89 crore with World Bank aid.

CM: Cabinet reshuffle after thorough study

The Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, said on Thursday that a Cabinet reshuffle was very much on the cards. He added that a thorough groundwork would be done before getting the final approval from the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi.
Supporting the chief minister’s view on the reshuffle, the Union law minister and in-charge of AP Congress affairs, Mr Veerappa Moily told reporters in New Delhi that there was a need to make changes in the Cabinet and it would be done after the party high command gave the nod.
“I cannot tell you the exact date and time, it will be done at an appropriate time the proposal for reshuffle is not a closed chapter, it is very much there,’’ said Mr Moily.
Mr Rosaiah visited the Parliament Central Hall on Thursday and had a brief interaction with the media. He made it clear that the appointment of the corporation chairmen and other nominated posts would be done only after the Cabinet reshuffle. He also said that sufficient groundwork was being done for the reshuffle and it would be known once the party president gave a green signal.
According to sources, Mr Rosaiah met Mr Veerappa Moily and Mr Ahmed Patel, political secretary to the Congress president, and discussed his proposals on the reshuffle. Mr Rosaiah is likely to meet Mrs Gandhi on Friday before returning to the state capital.
Meanwhile, Mr Veerappa Moily has announced that Mr Kasani Gyaneswar will be the candidate for the Ranga Reddy MLC polls. He also said that of the two seats from Hyderabad district, one has been offered to the Majlis party as a friendly gesture. He added that the Congress president would take a final decision on the party candidate for the remaining seat. He said the name of PCC president, Mr D. Srinivas, has not been finalised yet and Mrs Gandhi would take a decision on that.

AP in thick of drought, warns Centre

The deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, has cautioned that Andhra Pradesh was heading for a “manmade crisis” leading to a “permanent drought like situation”.

His observation came ahead of his scheduled meeting with the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, on Friday to discuss and finalise the annual plan. In a letter to the Chief Minister, a copy of which is with this newspaper, Mr Ahluwalia said the power and the groundwater scenario as well as loss of forest cover in the state were matters of concern.

“Between 2005 and 2007, there is a net loss of forest cover of about 129 sq. kms in the state,” he said, and warned that this would make groundwater levels plummet. Mr Ahluwalia urged the state to urgently frame a “well thought out plan of action” to control the situation.

He said the overall groundwater development was only 45 per cent against the national average of 58 per cent. At the same time, he also commended the state government for its outstanding performance in implementing Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and asked it to converge the scheme with water conservation programmes.

CM: No Cabinet reshuffle

The proposed Cabinet reshuffle in the state may take more time with the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, not getting sufficient time to discuss it with the Congress president, Mrs Sonia
Gandhi.
Mrs Gandhi, who is on a foreign trip, is expected to arrive in the national capital only on Friday while the Chief Minister, who reached Delhi on Thursday, will be returning by Friday evening.
It looks as if he would be able to meet Mrs Gandhi only on his next visit to Delhi on April 15.
Mr Rosaiah, however met Mr Ahmed Patel, political secretary to the Congress president, on Thursday night and discussed the issue with him.
He also had an hour-long meeting with Mr Veerappa Moily, who is in charge of party affairs in the state, along with the
Rajya Sabha member, Dr K.V.P. Ramachandra
Rao.
Sources said Mr Moily asked the Chief Minister to wait for three months, till the completion of the MLC elections and by-polls to 12 Assembly seats, to reshuffle the Cabinet.
“The whole exercise may get delayed but it is still on the cards,” said a source close to the Chief
Minister.

All is well with CM, says Nims

The Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, on Thursday underwent rigorous medical examination at the Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences (Nims).
The Chief Minister who arrived at the hospital at 9 am stayed on till 1 pm and an expert team of doctors oversaw his medical examinations. “The Chief Minister is perfectly alright. He will continue to actively discharge his duties for the rest of his term,” the medical education minister, Mr S. Sudarshan Reddy, told mediapersons. After being certified as fit, the Chief Minister went to the Secretariat in the evening and held a review on law and order. Initially it was decided that he would take complete rest at home. Mr Rosaiah will also leave for the national capital on April 8. Besides attending the meeting of high level committee constituted by the Centre to control prices of essential commodities, the Chief Minister will meet UPA chief, Mrs Sonia Gandhi on April 9.
Meanwhile, the doctors were said to have heaved a sigh of relief when they found no neurological abnormalities in the Chief Minister. They ruled out the possibility that he frequently reports dizziness due to neurological problems.

Rosaiah in no hurry to reshuffle Cabinet

The Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, is not in a hurry to go to New Delhi to clear the proposed Cabinet reshuffle in the state and is waiting for the city to become normal.
“This is not the right time for me to go to Delhi. It will take some more time and I am waiting for normalcy in the city,” Mr Rosaiah said.
In addition to that, the AP Congress affairs in-charge and Union law minister, Mr Veerappa Moily, is leaving for the US on Wednesday and will return on April 6.
On April 7, Mr Moily is expected to come to the city to chair the first meeting of the AP Congress coordination committee at Gandhi Bhavan.
The Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, will be busy with the Parliament session from April 12. Mr Rosaiah said that he still needs to know the mind of Mrs Gandhi on the reshuffle and act accordingly.
A few days ago the Chief Minister had said that he will go to Delhi soon after the Budget Session is over.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister found fault with some Congress leaders including the Nizamabad MP, Mr Madhu Yashki Goud and MLA, Dr P. Shanker Rao, for rushing to the media without verifying facts. The two leaders had on Monday alleged that some leaders from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema engineered the riots in the city to destablise the Rosaiah government. They also alleged a hidden hand behind the riots as in 1990. The Chief Minister asked the PCC chief, Mr D. Srinivas, to contact the two leaders and seek clarification on their

CM manages to win Andhra MLAs

The team of ministers deputed by the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, to convince the Seema-Andhra MLAs to support the resolution that sought to declare that Hyderabad was not a “free zone” were successful in doing so.
The team told the MLAs that like every district Hyderabad should have a separate recruitment cadre.
Under the new rules, the people of Hyderabad will get a district cadre and no harm will be done to people from other regions. This helped in changing the mood of MLAs.
Meanwhile, the Anantapur Congress MP, Mr Anantha Venkatramireddy who came to the Assembly raised a dissenting note.
“If we compromise now on creating separate cadre for Hyderabad in police recruitments, tomorrow some more demands may come up for other departments. How can we tolerate that?” he told newsmen.
He said the claim of integrationists that Hyderabad being the state capital belongs to all regions and districts of the state will lose steam now with the resolution treating Hyderabad as a separate cadre for recruitments.
“Tomorrow we may lose Hyderabad also if the state is bifurcated,” he argued. Later, he was also told by the ministers that the proposed resolution will in no affect the Seema-Andhra people staying in the Greater Hyderabad area. However, he refused to accept the theory and left.

59 lakh bogus ration cards to be cancelled

Authorities have decided to remove around 59 lakh bogus names from ration cards and are awaiting a final nod from the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah.
A three-phase survey undertaken by different government departments — civil supplies, rural development and education — found 59,15,777 bogus names among beneficiaries of subsidised rations. In many instances the cards did not match proof of photo and address in the records.
This means that around 12.68 per cent of the 4.66 crore ration beneficiaries in the state are spurious.
The civil supplies department has already proposed deletion of 11,37,981 ration cards from the system for various reasons.
Deletions over death, permanent migration and bogus cases have been displayed on notice boards of respective gram panchayats.
Tahsildars and joint collectors have been directed to scrutinise objections on the deletions.
“A final decision in this regard would be taken by the Chief Minister as the deletion of cards might cause a stir among the public,” said a senior
official.
Since the issue is likely to have political implications, the government is likely to take some more time to announce the decision.
“After completion of fourth phase survey by March end, all new enrolments would follow unique identification project standards including fingerprints and iris,” said an official.
The government is evaluating all technology options including biometrics and smart cards.

Rosaiah thanks Mamata for ‘people-friendly’ budget

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah congratulated Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee for presenting a ‘people-friendly’ Railway Budget, for 2010-11.

At the same time, the Chief Minister thanked her for bestowing ‘special favours’ on Andhra Pradesh in the form on new projects, trains and new railway lines.

In a letter to Mamata Banerjee, Rosaiah said, “You have embarked on a very challenging task of adding thousands of kilometers of railway line every year. The proposals introduced by you are quite innovative and socially-desirable, aimed at inclusive growth.”

Talking to newsmen, the Chief Minister remarked that this Railway Budget has made people of the State happy.

“For many years now, we have been complaining about the poor allocations to the State in the railway budget. This year, Mamata Banerjee left no scope for any complaining,” he noted.

“The Railway Minister apart, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee have been generous in favourably considering many proposals put forth by our government. I specially thank the three of them for this,” Rosaiah said.

Assembly asks Telangana activists not to resort to suicides

The Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Tuesday appealed to students and other Telangana agitators not to resort to extreme steps like suicide as their lives were very valuable.

Making an appeal on the floor of the Assembly, Chief Minister K. Rosaiah said students had a lot of future ahead of them and “your lives are very valuable.”

“Suicides are not desirable. There is nothing one achieves by ending life. I earnestly appeal to students and youths not to resort to suicides,” the Chief Minister said.

His appeal came after the Assembly was adjourned three times this morning following an uproar by the Telangana TDP MLAs on the issue of police lathicharge on pro-Telangana students in the Osmania University campus.

He welcomed the statement of Osmania University Students’ Joint Action Committee that henceforth there would be no suicides, bandhs and violence by students.

“It gives us a lot of relief,” Mr. Rosaiah remarked.

The Chief Minister said the government has been repeatedly instructing the police personnel to observe utmost restraint.

“Sometimes, however, the police say they are acting in self-defence. But still I once again direct them to be restrained,” he said.

CM mounts direct attack on Jagan

The Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, has expressed anger at the constant criticism of the state government by the Sakshi newspaper owned by Kadapa MP, Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, signalling that the rift between them has widened.

In a review meeting held on Wednesday, Mr Rosaiah wondered loudly why the newspaper was always accusing his administration of being dysfunctional and of not implementing the pet schemes of Jagan’s father YSR, despite getting so many government advertisements.

He also added that the ministers and MLAs seemed to be insensitive to criticism against him but took care to visit Jagan whenever he was in town.

At this point, one Cabinet colleague told Mr Rosaiah that ministers would refute the allegations in case he directed them to do so. Mr Rosaiah was provoked and asked his office attendant to bring a copy of Sakshi newspaper and showed the ministers a front page report on how the government was harassing genuine ration card holders in the guise of weeding out bogus cards.

“You ministers and MLAs regularly go and meet him and next day such stories appear,” Mr Rosaiah reportedly said. “What message does that give?”

Two ministers then intervened and justified Sakshi by saying that newspapers had to print such stuff to keep up circulation. “Is it for this that we (the government) give more advertisements to that paper?” asked the Chief Minister. Meanwhile, Sakshi continued its tirade against the state government by publishing a report on how YSR’s dream scheme Pavla Vaddi was being torpedoed.

The most recent tirade against the government was a report published in Sakshi on how YSR’s dream scheme Pavla Vaddi (25 paise interest scheme to women self-help groups) was being torpedoed because of the non-release of Rs 450 crore towards reimbursement for the last six months.

Sources said the Chief Minister was also peeved over Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy not bothering to call on him even once though he had visited the young MP several times after YSR’s death.

The Rajya Sabha member, Dr K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, had urged Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy to meet Mr Rosaiah but the latter did not bother.

The only occasion when Mr Rosaiah and Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy met was at an MPs conference held sometime back in Jubilee Hall where the Kadapa MP came down heavily on government over non-implementation of YSR’s pet schemes.