Andhra Pradesh believes 74 percent politicos in land grab

Hyderabad: The people of Andhra Pradesh have a poor opinion of their politicians and government officials and believe they are a major source of corruption. A survey of people in various districts across the state, conducted by the A government survey shows that people believe politicians and bureaucrats are indulging in corrupt practices in several areas: the approval of building permissions, illegal transport of sand, and government welfare schemes. Politicians are involved in land grabbing too. In the survey, 74 per cent believed that politicians have some role to play in land grabbing.

The state government began collecting public opinion on various issues through the Interactive voice response system (IVRS) as part of its real time governance initiative. Of the 1,367 people from all districts in the state who were asked about the involvement of politicians in the illegal transport of sand, 40 per cent said politicians were involved. Most of these respondents were from Srikakulam and Anantapur districts. Of the 84 people surveyed, 20 per cent said that the state government was unable to control the sand mafia in the state. 

Due to the illegal mining and transport of sand, the price of sand has increased by 20 per cent on average, and by 85 per cent in 12 months in Anantapur Respondents pointed out the difference in the price fixed by the government and actual price in the market. In Srikakulam, the deviation is 285 per cent. It is also high in West Godavari district. 

The standard price is Rs 1,300 per tractor and Rs 4,200 per lorry. But during the survey the government found the price of sand per tractor to be Rs 5,327, and per lorry, Rs 6240 in these two districts. In the Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's home district, the price deviation is 90 per cent. Corruption level in the town planning department for online approvals is seen at 99 per cent. Without paying a bribe to someone, getting online approval is almost impossible. 

A total of 555 people from all districts were surveyed and they said that 73 per cent of the corruption was by officials, 6 per cent by politicians, and 20 per cent by others. Belief of corruption in online approvals was the highest in Guntur district at 100 per cent. Corruption by politicians is high in Vizianagaram (15 per cent) and Prakasam (13 per cent). The perception of corruption is high in Nellore (85 per cent) and Visakhapatnam (82).  In the ‘ease of doing business’, too, getting approvals is delayed due to corruption. Of the 133 persons who were asked about the reasons for delay in getting approvals in ease of doing business, 20 per cent said it was due to corruption, the survey said.