Of Chandrababu, His Failures In Four Years  

With just four months to go before the 2019 general elections, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu is trying to mislead the people of the State with advertisements in his yellow media. In his advertisements, Chandrababu is trying to paint a false picture and publish fake numbers on the State's development. In this context, it is imperative to analyse the State's progress in several socio-economic indicators like improvement in basic amenities and job creation.

Centralization of development: In erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, the rest of the State did not get its fair share of importance in terms of allocation of funds as development was centralised around Hyderabad. Now, in the name of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority in Amaravati, development is just starting to get concentrated in AP. The 6.86 sq. km seed capital area in Amaravati is understandable. But, what is the need for building a smart city in 217 sq. km. area with a sports city, media city, legal city, knowledge city, tourism city, financial city, health city and electronics city inside it? The aim to build a grand city across 8,603 sq. km. area by 2050 also leads to centralization.

After assuming power in 2014, Chandrababu made an announcement for a 'Comprehensive Development Plan For 13 Districts.' But, the plan is not being implemented in various districts. For example, promises of setting up an industrial city in Donakonda of Prakasam district, a University of Mines and Mineral Science in Prakasam district and a production zone with national investments in Kanigiri have all been ignored.

Fuss over industrial investments: In the perspective of job creation, barring Visakhapatnam district, the remaining 12 districts of the State are industrially backward. In the last four years, the fuss over industrial investments doesn't really reflect on the actual investments received. Although the 'Ease of doing business' guidelines are being implemented, results are not showing up in terms of investments. The State government announced in the three investment summits that investments worth around Rs 1 lakh crore would be received through the Memorandum of Understandings (MOU). Except for KIA Motors, no other company brought investments. The companies are showing interest only in benefiting from subsidized land but not in investments. Industries need to be set up in the backward districts of Prakasam, Anantapur and Srikakulam.

Failure in filling job vacancies: After having promised to provide jobs and unemployment allowance of Rs 2,000, the State government is now providing unemployment allowance worth just Rs 1,000 to a few graduates. At the time of the State’s bifurcation, the Kamalanathan Committee found that there were 1,42,000 job vacancies across departments. Till now, only 20,000 vacancies have been filled while only one DSC notification has been issued. On the other side, the AP Public Services Commission is taking random decisions on conducting examinations and altering the exam syllabus. The Commission failed in conducting the TET exam, where over five lakh aspirants appeared.

Woes of Contract & Outsourcing employees: In Telugu Desam Party's (TDP) 2014 election manifesto, it promised to regularize the 60,000 Contract and 1.5 lakh Outsourcing employees. The State government formed a sub-committee with four ministers on the regularization issue. The subcommittee stated that the regularization of Contract employees was not Constitutional as per the 2/94 Act and that the Supreme Court ruling on the matter was a roadblock. Thereafter, the regularization issue has been shelved. The Supreme Court ruled that all the eligible candidates are lawfully qualified to be regularized. The Contract employees in departments like medical health, education, municipal administration and revenue demand equal pay for equal work, job security and regularization. Over 1,60,000 employees demand the abolition of CPS and reinstatement of the Old Pension Scheme.

Corporatization of Education & Health: Like nowhere in India, Corporatization of Education & Health has taken place on an unprecedented scale in Andhra Pradesh. The Corporatization process began in 1995 in erstwhile AP. Of the 70 lakh children studying across 60 schools, 45 per cent go to private and corporate institutions. In the last four years, the privatization process has been intensified in the State. A law has been made for setting up private universities. Lands at cheap rates have been allotted to private universities like VIT, Amrutha and SRM. In the private universities to be set up in Amaravati, fee reimbursement and reservations are not applicable. The State government failed to tone up the functioning of universities, colleges and schools across the State. While at least one lakh children are dropping out of school every year, enough measures to strengthen the operations of government hospitals and primary health centres are not being taken.

The State's economy is struck in a massive web of debts. As per the 2018-19 budget estimations, the total debt stands at Rs 2.49 lakh crore. As a result of the government's excessive spending, it is forced to depend on borrowing. In the name of Real-Time Governance, Chandrababu Naidu is trying to mislead the public. With his event management skills in Krishna-Godavari Pushkarams, World Women's Congress and Happy Cities, he is trying to impress the public. The State would prosper when issues like agriculture productivity, MSPs, job creation, industrial growth and literacy are seen.

DWCRA loan waiver: The promise to waive DWCRA loans was not addressed in the last four years. Due to the delay in taking the decision, many beneficiaries had to pay back their loans. After assuming power in 2014, a committee to look into the matter was formed. Later, it was said that only Rs 10,000 would be waived per person. As years passed by without paying the loans, interests on the loans have increased. With this, the banks have stopped issuing fresh loans. In three stages, the government had till now paid Rs 8,000 against the loan waiver. It had promised to pay the remaining Rs 2,000 in the next four-five months.

Importance to financial growth: The Nabcons survey found that the DWCRA loan waiver amounts are being used for investments. While 80 per cent of the loans is being taken for business opportunities, 11 per cent are being spent on education and 9 per cent on domestic purposes. The government had appointed agents to roll out the scheme for reaching the grassroots. Certain Self Help Groups are being trained for this purpose. Around 1.14 lakh women in towns and 3.57 lakh women in villages are serving as agents in this scheme. However, the government has come under sharp criticism over using public money for publicity purposes.

Also Read: KCR Exposes Chandrababu’s Cheap Politicking