YSR Congress continues to bet on welfare schemes to woo AP voters
A promise to significantly increase spend on Navaratnalu welfare schemes, shifting executive capital to Visakhapatnam and completion of infrastructure projects top the manifesto of the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in Andhra Pradesh for the upcoming assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
“I consider the YSRCP manifesto to be like the Bible, Quran and Bhagavad Gita. I take an oath that I will implement it to the fullest,” Chief Minister and YSRCP President Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy said, while releasing the manifesto in Amaravati on Saturday.
Referring to the performance of his government, Reddy said the welfare schemes under Navaratnalu witnessed over 99 per cent implementation. “We’ve deposited ₹2.68lakh crore directly into beneficiaries’ accounts through DBT (direct benefit transfer) and ₹1.78-lakh crore through nonDBT methods. We’ve allocated ₹26,067 crore for the AmmaVodi scheme, ₹4,275 crore for the Jagananna Vasati Devena, ₹12,609 crore for the Jagananna Vidya Deevena, and ₹34,378 crore for the YSR Rythu Bharosa schemes,” he added.
Reddy promised to not only continue the existing welfare schemes but also increase the quantum of disbursals. The benefit of the Jaganna AmmaVodi, a scheme to incentivise education of children, will be increased from the present ₹15,000 to ₹17,000 per annum. An amount of ₹1,000 crore per annum will be spent on providing homes to the urban poor over the next five years, he said.
For the youth, the manifesto promises to conduct recruitment examinations of Group I & Group - II every year with a fixed schedule as is done by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for Civil Services Examination. A skill university in Tirupati and a skill college in each of the district headquarters are also proposed to be set up.
3-CAPITAL PROPOSAL
The manifesto reiterated the already announced plan to adopt a decentralised capital policy for the State. It proposes to shift the executive capital to Visakhapatnam, the judicial capital to Kurnool while Amaravati would continue to be the legislative capital.
With regard to infrastructure, Reddy promised the completion of the Polavaram project on the Godavari, the Bhogapuram airport, four greenfield ports, 10 fishing harbours, six fish landing stations and 17 medical colleges.