Vijayawada: Caretaker Union finance minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said that the State Government had sought modifications to the Special Assistant Measure (SAM) announced by the Centre to Andhra Pradesh in the place of Special Category Status (SCS) which was agreed upon by the Union Government.
In a written reply to YSRC Rajya Sabha member V. Vijaya Sai Reddy on Tuesday, Mr Goyal said that following the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission, the class of Special Category States cease to exist. The Central Government, being committed to support the development of the newly formed State of Andhra Pradesh and keeping in mind the obligations emanating from the provisions of Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation Act, 2014; recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission Report; the statement of the then Prime Minister before the Parliament on February 20, 2014 and the report dated December 1, 2015 of Vice Chairman, Niti Aayog on ‘Developmen-tal Support to the Successor State of Andhra Pradesh under Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation Act, 2014’, provided Special Assistance Measure in lieu of Special Category Status approved by the Union Cabinet.
The Central Government will provide Special Assistance Measure to the Government of Andhra Pradesh which would make up for additional Central share the State might have received during 2015-16 to 2019-20, if the funding of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) would have been shared at the ratio of 90:10 between the Centre and the State.
The Special Assistance Measure will be provided by way of repayment of loan and interest for the Externally Aided Projects (EAPs) signed and disbursed during 2015-16 to 2019-20 by the State.
“The Chief Minister of the Successor State Andhra Pradesh concurred with the Special Assistance Measure announced by the Central Government and acknowledged and thanked the finance minister for the approval of the Special Assistance Measure by the Union Cabinet. The reason stated by the State Government of Andhra Pradesh, while requesting modifications to the Special Assistance Measure, is that the State might not be able to utilise the Special Assistance Measure on repayment of loan and interest for the Externally Aided Projects (EAPs) signed and disbursed during 2015-16 to 2019-20 by the State, owing to elaborate procedures in getting clearance and approval from external funding agencies as well as time taken in grounding and completion of the projects,” he said.
