CM Jagan meets PM, seeks fulfilmet of bifurcation assurance

Vijayawada: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Wednesday morning, pressed for early fulfillment of the  bifurcation assurances given to Andhra Pradesh, including SCS, and sought the central support for the 76.9km Metro Rail Project for Visakhapatnam.

The chief minister informed the PM about the state’s preparedness to face the emerging BF-7 Covid threat.

Jagan reminded the PM that despite the passing of eight years after bifurcation, many issues of AP still stood pending including the resource gap funding of 2014-15 -- of Rs 18,330.45 crore.

Listing out the demands of the state, the chief minister told the PM that the residual state of Andhra Pradesh was badly hit by post-bifurcation problems.

The special committee headed by the Union Finance Secretary held several meetings and discussed the unsolved bifurcation issues and assurances given by the Centre in Parliament, but no progress has been made in these respects.

He told the PM that a huge amount of Rs 32,625.25 crore including resource funding of Rs 18,330.45crore for the fiscal 2014-15 and pension arrears payable to AP were pending and appealed to Modi to expedite the clearances.

The CM said the central finance ministry has been imposing a plethora of restrictions on the AP government on its permitted borrowings while adjusting the loans made by the previous Telugu Desam government, which had borrowed beyond the limits.

Stressing the need for the PM to intervene and do away with the restrictions, the CM said the state would suffer a lot financially if the restrictions continue unabated.

He said no final decision has been made by the Centre on the estimated expenditure of the Polavaram project despite the technical advisory committee finalizing the total project cost at Rs 55,548 crore. Apart from not reimbursing the Rs 2,937.92 crore spent by the state on the project so far, the Centre has also wrongly chosen to treat the drinking water supply system separately, he complained to the PM.

Jagan said such a decision had not been applied to any other irrigation project with a national status.  He appealed to the PM to do away with the policy of treating the Polavaram project cost component-wise as this escalated the total project cost besides causing delay and difficulties in the bills reimbursement.

Jagan appealed to the PM to release Rs 10,485.38 crore immediately on an ad-hoc basis to begin land acquisition and take up the works of relief and rehabilitation of families displaced in view of the efforts to increase the height of the dam to 41.15 metres.

The chief minister requested the PM to ensure that the Telangana government paid the dues of Rs 6,886 crore outstanding from the TS Discoms immediately to the AP GENCO, which required money on an urgent basis.