Andhra Pradesh to revamp Jala Yagnam

HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh cabinet on Friday decided to revamp the Jala Yagnam programme conceived during the YSR regime to ensure completion of projects on time.
After a marathon meeting, the cabinet decided to appoint two committees, one headed by the chief secretary and another by finance principal secretary to grant extension to the contractors. Jala Yagnam includes several irrigation projects such as construction of reservoirs and lift irrigation systems.
The committees will negotiate with the contractors on the price escalation, which will cost the exchequer above Rs 7,000 crore in addition to the money already spent. While the committee headed by the CS will look into projects worth Rs 100 crore and above, the finance secretary committee will negotiate with contractors of projects worth less than Rs 100 crore .
"There will be complete revamp of the irrigation projects and the TDP government wants to bring in total transparency as far as cost escalation issue is concerned. The issue was already examined by an expert committee and now two committees will take a final call on extension of projects," said irrigation minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao.
There are 41 irrigation projects pending completion and contractors had stopped the works with a demand to allow cost escalation in the wake of steep hike in the prices of steel, cement, sand and other materials. The irrigation department has prepared a note which said that it would cost Rs 12,000 crore if the present contracts are cancelled and new tenders are called, whereas any cost escalation would burden the government by Rs 7,000 crore.
In other decisions, the cabinet cleared the 'Chandranna gift' for Sankranti, under which the government would provide 1/2 kg toor dal, 1/2 kg jaggery, 1/2 kg palm oil and wheat flour to the poor. The scheme will cost the government Rs 280 crore, but benefit 1.2 crore white ration card holders. The cabinet also decided to celebrate Sankranti in a big way by organizing traditional events in every village.
The cabinet also cleared a proposal to set up women empowerment authority to extend financial assistance to women self-help groups across the 13 districts. The authority would be provided about Rs 1,000 crore seed capital, through which it would provide financial assistance of Rs 10,000 without interest to women SHGs in the first phase.
The chief minister also asked his cabinet colleagues to promote smart village programme in a big way by adopting one village of their choice. He also asked MLAs, MLCs, MPs and government employees to adopt one village and work for its development. Naidu also proposed launch of "Fibre Grid" to extend internet to remote villages, and said his government's priority will be internet connection to every home. Land allocations were made to solar power generating stations in Ananthapur and Kurnool districts.
No decision on pay revision
The six-hour marathon cabinet meeting could not arrive at a conclusion on pay revision to government employees. Finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu has been asked to meet staff associations once again to finalise the increase in salaries. Similarly, the new industrial policy did not get the nod of the cabinet and it was postponed to the next meeting. Naidu has asked officials to come up with more incentives for industrialists willing to invest in AP.