Major changes in education, medicare in AP under my rule: Jagan

AMARAVATI: Reiterating that the amount being spent on education was an investment for a better future, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Tuesday said that it worked in shaping the generation next into a confident and competent youth to start their careers. Drastic changes are being introduced in the medical and health sector to bring quality medicare within the reach of the needy, he said.

Concluding the short discussion on 'Vidya Vaidyam Nadu Nedu' in the State Assembly here, the Chief Minister said that the State Government had been striving not just for right to education but for right to English medium and right to higher education with incentives from pre-primary to college education. In contrast, the previous dispensation had tried to push back government schools into oblivion to benefit corporate schools with vested interest, he alleged.

"We have chalked out our priorities well and wanted to see that the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) is drastically improved by providing incentives and also revamping the schools under Nadu Nedu. We have instructed that 12 visible changes should be in place in the government schools which include toilets, clean drinking water, repairs, tube lights and fans, furniture for students and teachers, green chalk boards, painting, English lab, compound wall, kitchen shed, additional rooms and digital interactive panels.

"Besides government schools, even pre-primary foundation schools and anganwadi hostels are also being developed under Nadu Nedu. In the first phase 15,715 schools were revamped with a cost of Rs 3,700 crore and the digitization of class rooms will be in place from next academic year," the Chief Minister said.

The second phase of modernization has started, the Chief Minister said and has given the visual presentation of schools in Chandrababu Naidu's birthplace Naravari palle and Kuppam before and after taking up the 'Nadu Nedu' programme.

He said: "The GER in primary schools for 2015-16 in the State was very poor and we could increase it drastically through schemes like Amma Vodi, Goru Muddha, Vidya Deevena and Vasathi Devena. While government schools had 37.20 lakh students in 2018-19, it increased to 44.29 lakh in 2021-22."

Amma Vodi has been a unique scheme under which a mother is incentivized to send her children to school with Rs 15,000 per annum with the rider of 75 per cent attendance and Rs 1,000 each should be contributed toward Toilets and School Maintenance Funds for upkeep of schools. During the three years Rs 19, 617 crores were spent under the scheme, Jagan said.

"Under Gorumuddha, with daily changing menu and nutritious food, the State has been spending Rs 1,800 crore while it was just Rs 450 crore annually during the previous government which did not clear the dues of ayas and provisions as well," the Chief Minister said.

YS Jagan also gave a detailed account of the salient features of schemes like Vidya kanuka kits, Vidya Deevena with a comparative analysis of the spendings towards the sectors in his government and the previous TDP regime.