YS Jagan meets Modi; Polavaram, medical colleges top CM's wish list

NEW DELHI: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Wednesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the latter's residence in Delhi. He was closeted with the Prime Minister in a one-on-one meeting that reportedly lasted 50 minutes. YS Jagan, on this occasion, discussed a wide range of issues pertaining to Andhra Pradesh and the pending bifurcation promises as stipulated in the AP Reorganisation Act.

The Chief Minister conveyed to the Prime Minister that the state was prepared to face any situation arising out of a suspected COVID-19 resurgence.

Highlighting the pending bifurcation promises, YS Jagan said that even eight years after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to create a separate Telangana, most of the issues mentioned under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act (APRA) had not been fulfilled and many issues were still unresolved between the two states.

The Chief Minister explained that the dispute resolution sub-committee headed by the Secretary of the Union Finance Department had met several times on the unresolved issues. Although some progress has been made, the key issues are still unresolved, he informed the Prime Minister.

The arrears to be paid under resource gap funding for the financial year 2014-15 are pending - Bills of Rs 18,330.45 crores for the year 2014-15, 10th Pay Commission arrears, pensions and others amounting to a total of Rs 32,625.25 crore are pending and there is a need for dues to be cleared immediately, the Chief Minister said.

YS Jagan also raised the issue of the Union finance ministry imposing a limit on loans for the current regime by adjusting the heavy loans secured by the previous government. "It is also imposing cuts in the allocated loan limit. This government has done nothing wrong but is imposing restrictions on what the previous government did. In dire situations like COVID-19, these restrictions will hurt the state," Jagan said while seeking the Prime Minister's intervention in this matter.

Polavaram Project

While requesting the Prime Minister to address the pending issues pertaining to Polavaram project, the Chief Minister made a request for the reimbursement of Rs 2,937.92 crores that the State Government had spent.

While highlighting the pending finalization of the estimated cost of the Polavaram project, the Chief Minister reminded yet again that the Technical Advisory Committee had already approved the project cost of Rs.55,548 crore for the entire project.

He appealed that the drinking water supply should be included as part of the project.

Referring to technical aspects, the Chief Minister stressed that the construction cost of the project should not be looked at component wise and that the rules governing this should be removed completely. There will be serious difficulties in the reimbursement of bills, he felt.

YS Jagan also proposed the payment of relief and rehabilitation packages to the displaced people of the project through DBT claiming that this would save a lot of time. Appealing for the completion of the compensation distribution programme as soon as possible, he said that the cost of the project would increase as the delay increased.

Rs 6,886 crores of pending dues from Telangana Discoms

The Chief Minister also raised the issue of pending dues from the Telangana discoms to Andhra Pradesh. He urged the Prime Minister to immediately ensure the payment of the electricity dues of Rs.6,886 crores from the Telangana discoms. He informed the Prime Minister that these dues, if released immediately, would vastly help APGENCO, which is in dire straits.

YS Jagan also requested the Prime Minister to take a decision on giving the special category status for Andhra Pradesh. He reiterated that the special status was necessary for the state, which has suffered badly due to bifurcation, and the promise given by the Central government should be fulfilled.

The Chief Minister also made a formal request for granting 12 new medical colleges for Andhra Pradesh. With the three medical colleges recently sanctioned by the Centre, there are a total of 14 medical colleges so far across the state. Each district has a population of approximately 18 lakhs, he said while appealing for the grant of medical colleges to the remaining 12 districts immediately. The CM explained that the work was already progressing rapidly at the field level.

The Chief Minister requested for the allocation of mines to APMDC to make available enough ore for the steel plant to be built in Kadapa.

In another major request, YS Jagan sought necessary support from the Centre for the Metro Rail project in Visakhapatnam. The DPR has already been prepared for the construction of 76.9-km long metro rail and it has been submitted to the Centre, he added.