Key decisions mark one month of Naidu-led government in Andhra Pradesh
The Telugu Desam Party-led National Democratic Alliance government in Andhra Pradesh, headed by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, which completed one month in office on Friday, has made an effort to strike a balance between welfare and development.
The Telugu Desam Party-led National Democratic Alliance government in Andhra Pradesh, headed by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, which completed one month in office on Friday, has made an effort to strike a balance between welfare and development.
The chief minister began his rule by signing files on five crucial decisions — filling up 16,347 teacher posts through a mega recruitment drive, repealing of the Land Titling Act, revision of pension to ₹4,000 from ₹3,000, revival of Anna Canteens and conducting a skill census to identify the talent of the educated youth to ascertain their employability.
All these decisions were approved during the first meeting of the state cabinet on June 24. The disbursal of enhanced pension – from ₹3,000 to ₹4,000 for old-aged people and to ₹6,000 for the physically challenged was implemented on July 1 at a cost of ₹4,408 crore.
Steps have been taken to relaunch 183 Anna Canteens across the state and some of them have already been started. Similarly, the process for the withdrawal of the Land Titling Act and the mega recruitment drive of teachers has also commenced. So is the case with the conduct of skill census.
Another major step taken by Naidu was to declare Amaravati as the only capital of the state and begin the works in the right earnest. He made a quick tour of the capital city area and presented a road map in resurrecting the project.
The CM also held discussions with various institutions and central government organisations to resume their operations in Amaravati. He also held a preliminary round of talks with the World Bank officials to revive the lending proposal for developing the capital city.
He also turned his attention on restarting the activity on the Polavaram irrigation project. Last month, he visited the project site to understand the ground reality. By June end, the Centre roped in four experts from the US and Canada to inspect the damages caused to the project and suggest remedial measures.
At the same time, the chief minister has shared the status of various sectors by releasing a series of white papers. So far, he has released white papers on Polavaram, Amaravati and the state’s power crisis. He will soon be releasing the next white paper on state finances.
The last month also saw Naidu going to Delhi and holding discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other ministers at the Centre. He discussed various projects related to the state, besides seeking immediate financial assistance to bail out the state from the crisis.
Similarly, he also held a series of meetings with various industrialists and big central government undertakings like the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and its plans to set up a petrol refinery unit with an investment of ₹60,000 crore. Discussions were also held with the automobile company VinFast and efforts are on to invite more investments.
Naidu also took the first step towards resolving the pending issues between the two Telugu states after bifurcation by holding a meeting with his Telangana counterpart A Revanth Reddy in Hyderabad.
Another important decision taken by Naidu was the revival of the free sand policy to fillip the construction sector. He also went to Visakhapatnam a couple of days ago to inspect the Bhogapuram International Airport works. He also attended a conference of Confederation of Indian Industry and requested the industrial groups to start their ventures in Amaravati.
All his cabinet colleagues, particularly deputy chief minister and Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan, have quickly got into their jobs and are reviewing their respective departments.
On the other hand, Naidu has also been facing the criticism of resorting to revenge politics. Right from day one, his government has begun initiating probes against the YSR Congress Party leaders and officials of the previous government in the alleged acts of omission and commission.
There have been allegations that the TDP leaders and cadre are behaving in a high-handed manner, attacking the YSRCP leaders at several places and destroying the statues of former chief minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy.
Senior YSRCP leader and former minister Perni Venkatramaiah alias Nani said Naidu’s actions were always deceitful and his 30-day rule was no different. “Naidu has been avoiding questions about election promises, bragging about creating wealth while continuously taking more loans, making the state the most indebted. His 30 days of governance were spent on releasing white papers with false figures, blaming the previous government,” he said.
Nani further said Naidu has not yet started implementing his promises like Talliki Vandanam and free bus ride for women. “The TDP manifestos released in 2014 and 2024 were full of deceit and fraud. Naidu had made over 600 promises in the past, none of which were fulfilled,” he criticised.
Political analyst Mallu Rajesh said it is too early to judge the performance of a government within the first 30 days of its formation. “But it appears Naidu and his team mean business and are going in the right direction. It remains to be seen how long this impression would sustain,” he added.