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Jagan rolls out ₹670 cr scheme for economically weak upper caste women
A decision to this effect was taken at the state cabinet meeting held by the chief minister at the secretariat in Amaravati on Tuesday.
The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh has rolled out yet another populist scheme, this time for women belonging to Economically Backward Class (EBC) sections of various upper castes with an annual budgetary allocation of ₹670 crore.
A decision to this effect was taken at the state cabinet meeting held by the chief minister at the secretariat in Amaravati on Tuesday.
“Under this scheme, christened as EBC Nestham (Friend of EBCs), each beneficiary would be given financial assistance to the tune of ₹15,000 per annum for the next three years,” state minister for information and public relations Perni Venkataramaiah alias Nani told reporters after the cabinet meeting.
He said women belonging to upper castes but economically weak, in the age group of 45-60 years, were eligible to get the benefit under the EBC Nestham scheme. “Each beneficiary would get a direct cash transfer of ₹45,000 during the three-year period,” Nani said.
The cabinet discussed in detail the ongoing agitation by the workers of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) at Visakhapatnam, better known as Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, in protest against the Central government’s decision to go in for 100 per cent disinvestment.
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“The chief minister said he had already written a detailed letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to drop the steel plant privatisation plan and was awaiting a response.
The cabinet approved a resolution to be introduced in the coming budget session of the state assembly opposing the privatisation move,” the minister said.
Another decision taken at the cabinet meeting was to complete all the buildings, residential quarters and villas in Amaravati, which had been abandoned after Jagan took over as the chief minister.
“The cabinet decided that the state government stands guarantee to the commercial banks to lend ₹3,000 crore to Amaravati Metropolitan Development Authority (AMRD) to complete the under-construction buildings on a priority basis,” Nani said.
He said the chief minister was committed to the development of Amaravati, but the people of the region were not spelling out their demands. “Under any circumstances, the executive capital will be shifted to Visakhapatnam and there is no question of going back on that. Amaravati will remain the legislative capital and the people have to decide what exactly they want,” he said.
The cabinet approved the compensation package to be given to the farmers whose lands were acquired for Kakinada Special Economic Zone in East Godavari district.
“The cabinet sub-committee headed by agriculture minister K Kanna Babu submitted its report to the chief minister suggesting certain compensation package for the farmers who would be losing their lands, but the cabinet decided to enhance the compensation amount,” he said.
The cabinet also approved the selection of a joint venture partner for the construction of the YSR Steel Plant in Kadapa district. The cabinet finalised the calendar of implementation of nine various welfare schemes under the Navaratnalu (nine jewels) programme. “The benefits would be extended to the people as per the calendar,” Nani said.
