Chandrababu Naidu holds video-conference with District Collectors

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu reviewed the status of projects and schemes in the state with respective district collectors through a teleconference.

The Chief Minister sent out a clear message to collectors on the loan waiver that the total amount of loans to be waived off in the state is Rs1.5lakh-crore. This means 96.5% of farmers (who have availed a loan of upto Rs1.5 lakh) will benefit from the waiver. Setting the limit of waiver at Rs1.5 lakh, he said the remaining 3.5% (who took loans worth over Rs1.5 lakh) of farmers will get waiver only upto Rs1.5lakh. This means even if a household has more than one loan, the limit for each household on waiver has been set at Rs.1.5 lakh. He asked the district collectors look into bringing down input costs in agriculture and simultaneously increase output with the available resources.

Chandrababu Naidu also asked collectors to ensure bankers act immediately on waiver and ordered for issue of fresh loans.

Under Polam Pilustondi, the Chief Minister has asked district collectors to visit villages twice a week on Tuesday and Wednesday. As part of this programme, on each day of the visit, collectors will tour two villages and educate farmers on modern technologies which can be incorporated.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary I.Y.R Krishna Rao said that the share of horticulture, dairy, fisheries and animal husbandry is huge in the GDP and asked them to focus on these activities to generate additional income.

The Chief Minister said paddy is being cultivated in 17.6 lakh acres in the state. For this, he asked district officials to ensure that farmers receive required fertilisers. He also stressed on the use of bio-fertilizers which would bring down the input costs and increase agriculture output. For bio-fertilizers, he has asked the district officials from across the state to make suggestions for creation of a bio-fertilizer lab.

In drought-hit districts of Ananthapur and Kadapa, the AP government has designed a contingency plan for alternative crops that wouldn't require much water.

Under the Neeru-Chettu scheme that aims to make AP a drought-free state, the Chief Minister has asked the forest department to identify plantations that will help increase the ground-water table and recognize medicinal plantations which could eventually become income-generating sources. He has also asked the district officials to look into restoration of old tanks and construct new ones.

The Chief Minister said that water conservation is one of the top priorities.

Reviewing the public health services, he asked collectors to ensure that the outbreak of diseases be controlled through 100% immunization. Currently, the immunization position in the state of AP is below average. He asked officials to make sure that there is no water contamination and maintain sanitation. On infant and maternal mortality rates, he asked the concerned departments to bring down the IMR and MMR rates. Through Amrutha Hastham programme, he said pre-natal and post-natal services should be delivered effectively. And, the scheme be linked to Aadhar.

The Chief Minister ordered district officials to look into the construction of individual toilets and community toilets.

Emphasizing on the importance for education, he told the collectors to ensure 100% enrollment of students under the Badi Pilustondi scheme. He also proposed that the scheme be linked to Aadhar.

Naidu told the collectors that their statistics and status of schemes should result in actions and said they would accountable for their steps.