Medical college approvals to Discom arrears: Jagan meets Modi, submits wish list

Amaravati: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Thursday. During the 45-minute meeting, the Chief Minister discussed revenue deficit, Polavaram, NREGS, medical colleges sanction, and other issues.

Release funds on pending bills

Jagan requested the Prime Minister to release Rs 32,625 crore for various pending bills under the 10th Pay Commission, including a financial package for rebuilding DISCOMs, senior citizen pensions, and loan waiver for farmers. He said an amount of Rs. 6,627.86 crore is receivable by Andhra Pradesh Generation Corporation Limited (APGENCO) from the Telangana Government and requested the Prime Minister to direct the concerned authorities to settle the dues at the earliest so that the State power sector will be financially strengthened.

The Chief Minister said that the previous government had gone on a borrowing spree beyond the limits from 2016-17 to 2018-19. He said his government has slashed the borrowings. In the last three years, the debt ceiling has been slashed by Rs 17,923 crore. The Chief Minister requested the prime minister take a favorable decision.

Release funds for Polavaram

Regarding the Polavaram project, CM urged the Prime Minister to approve the revised cost estimates of Rs 55,548.87 crore as per the 2017-18 price index, which the Technical Advisory Committee had already approved. He asked to consider the drinking water component of the Polavaram project as an integral part of the project structure and follow the same approach as other national projects in the past.

CM also requested the Prime Minister to clear the bills fortnightly and not component-wise. He said the state government was not paid with Rs 905.51 crore spent on the project. Further, the Chief Minister suggested providing funds in advance at the beginning of the financial year so that the construction of the Polavaram project could proceed smoothly.

Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Yojna

He appealed to provide a rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) package to the displaced families through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to ensure transparency. The Chief Minister said there is inadequate coverage of beneficiaries under the NFSA (National Food Security) Act, as many needy and deserving persons are being uncovered and thus sought to eliminate inequalities in the selection of card holders. He said that the country has a stockpile of 3 lakh metric tonnes of rice each month. He said NITI Aayog has recommended that 0.77 lakh metric tonnes of rice can be allocated to Andhra Pradesh. The CM mentioned that under the Prime Minister's Garib Kalyan Yojna, nearly 56 lakh families are being left out, and the state government is providing the rice subsidy to them.

Approval for new projects

The Chief Minister urged the Prime Minister to give approvals for setting up another 12 Medical Colleges in the state to cater to 26 districts. He urged the Prime Minister to renew the approvals of the site clearances for the greenfield international airport at Bhogapuram and to give approvals to allot beach sand minerals to Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation, which could attract investments of Rs 20,000 crore. He said that 14 of 16 approvals are pending.

Regarding setting up an Integrated Steel Plant in the YSR district, he requested to allocate iron mines to APMDC for an uninterrupted iron ore supply to operate the plant. The steel plant is said to be essential for the livelihood of the people of Rayalaseema and economic progress in the region.

Later, the Chief Minister also met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman.