Visakhapatnam: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has been focusing on development of the north Andhra region, which had remained backward even after 70 years of Independence.
When he had taken up his Praja Sankalpa Yatra as an Opposition leader, Jagan Mohan Reddy had for himself seen the pervasive poverty in the region. He had then taken a vow to develop the region. At that time, thousands of ailing kidney patients had drawn his attention. The main reason for this had been non-availability of safe drinking water.
Thus, ahead of the 2019 elections, Jagan Mohan Reddy incorporated development of north Andhra in his election manifesto. He added a few more major projects that silenced his critics.
The most important among the projects that pleased the people of Srikakulam has been commissioning of a kidney hospital and research centre, apart from a host of dialysis centres, which are providing a major relief to patients.
In addition, the Chief Minister sanctioned a monthly amount of Rs 10,000 to each of the 10,000 kidney patients in Uddanam. He also commissioned a drinking water project in the area, sanctioning Rs 700 crore.
“Jagan Mohan Reddy is a divine blessing for people of north Andhra. Though he hails from Rayalaseema, he has focused more on development of this backward region from the day he took over as CM,” said former minister and Bheemili MLA Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, popularly known as Avanti.
Talking to this correspondent on Saturday, Srinivasa Rao said Mulapeta Sea Port in Srikakulam, Bhogapuram International Airport, both costing around ₹9,000 crore, and the kidney hospital have been game changing projects.
In addition, he said, the Chief Minister has sanctioned a tribal university and an engineering college at Parvathipuram in Manyam district, medical colleges at Vizianagaram and Paderu, in addition to a six-lane beach road to Bhogapuram, which will set the ball rolling for rapid development of north Andhra.
Incidentally, during the first week of this month, Jagan Mohan Reddy unveiled “Vision Visakha,” a roadmap for developing Visakhapatnam into a global metropolis and an economic growth engine to compete with cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai.
Envisioning an iconic secretariat building, stadium, convention centre, institute for emerging technologies and other futuristic initiatives, the Chief Minister noted that the port city can be pitched to a global scale for attracting the world's eyeballs, Avanti said.
“Jagan Mohan Reddy has a clear vision for developing the entire state, starting with Visakhapatnam, with an expenditure of nearly Rs 1lakh crore,” said Vizag MP and Visakhapatnam East constituency coordinator M.V.V. Satyanarayana.
Industries minister Gudivada Amarnath said the CM has already highlighted Vizag's superior infrastructure compared to Bengaluru. ““Industrial corridors and major IT players of global level have lined up for Visakhapatnam, which will acquire a new face in the ensuing years,” the minister remarked.
Revenue minister Dharmana Prasada Rao has on many occasions pointed out that the standard of living of people in north Andhra has improved during the last five years, compared to the last seven decades. He maintained that the YSRC government will complete pending irrigation projects of north Andhra that will prevent people from migrating to other states.
