AP to Frame Population Management Policy: CM

Vijayawada: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has announced plans to introduce a population management policy for Andhra Pradesh by next month.

Chairing a review meeting with the ministers and the secretaries at the Secretariat on Monday, he underscored the need to change the psychological feeling among the people that they could not do any work once they cross the age 60.

In several countries, he said, the number of elders has gone up while 20 nations in Europe are suffering from the consequences of an aging society. He called for promoting normal deliveries and reducing the rate of deliveries through C-section. “There is a need to provide them with nutritious diet and nutritional supplements.”

On the Sanjeevani project, the Chief Minister said the health screening must be completed for 66 lakh high-risk individuals and five lakh hostel students by July. He called for preparing the health profiles of 70 lakh students up to Class XII.

The Chief Minister directed the officials to prepare an action plan in such a way that nutritious diet is provided to students in the mid-day meal scheme, and for children at the Anganwadi Centres. Nutrition content, he noted, is high in leafy vegetables. He also called for steps to provide nutritious food in Anna Canteens.

The government, he said, aimed to declare Andhra Pradesh to be free from HIV/AIDS by 2027.

On exams, Naidu called for an action plan for 100 days to ensure best results in Class X exams. “We must also ensure that students do not face pressure while appearing for exams. No student should die by suicide just because of the pressure mounted on him or her to appear for exams,” he said.

The CM directed the ministers and secretaries to make field-level visits to identify the problems of the people vis-a-vis governance. They, he said, should see for themselves at the micro level how the government policies on various matters are being implemented. “Even if best policies are formulated, unless these are implemented efficiently, we would fail to achieve the desired results,” he noted.

Officials, he said, must reach out to the people at regular intervals to identify their problems and ork out solutions for them.

Naidu also called for coming up with plans to ensure that GSDP and per capita income doubled every five years. He noted that the per capita income would reflect the people’s living standards.

On the P4 scheme (People-Public-Private-Partnership), Naidu said it would dispel economic inequalities in the state. He called for enlistment of more Margadarsis and Bangaru Mitras, so that they would help the poor to overcome their financial hardships.

Naidu cited the “financial mismanagement” of the previous YSRC rule and said the present government was paying a 14 per cent interest for the loans the last government raised. “Our government is in the process of rescheduling the loans to bring down the interest rate by enhancing AP’s credit rating.”

The Chief Minister said the YSRC government’s lack of financial discipline during the 2019-2024 period resulted in its inability to pay salaries to government employees on the first day of the month. “We restored order and are paying the wages promptly. We are also implementing the promised Super Six schemes,” he said.

He said that there would be a good chance for raising Kumkuma Puvvu (saffron crocus) in Lambasingi of Alluri Sitaramaraju district. Its production hitherto was confined to Kashmir.

Naidu announced plans for a ‘Cocoa City’ near Eluru, the first in the country, and called for enhancing the area under coffee cultivation and promotion of the Araku Coffee brand.

The Chief Minister called for preparation of an action plan for undertaking works under the ‘G RAM G’ scheme and said there should be efforts to ensure there’s no pollution of ground water due to the discharge of industrial effluents.

Potable water, he said, should be provided to the people and to students in educational institutions and hostels. He wondered why some students had fallen sick at a hostel in Devarapalli in Polavaram district and hoped there would be no repeat of such incidents. “If such things happened again, the district collector and in-charge minister would be held responsible,” he said.