Andhra Pradesh wants 13,000 hectares of forest land for CRDA

Vijayawada: The AP Cabinet on Saturday unanimously decided to fill 20,000 vacancies in various government departments. Notification will be issued immediately and the vacancies would be filled in a phased manner within one year. The decision was taken during the 4.5-hour-long Cabinet meeting held at CM’s camp office here.

The Cabinet also expressed its displeasure over the delay in allocation of funds by the Centre and it was decided to write to the Centre registering its protest over the poor allocations. The Cabinet also decided to request the Centre to allot 13,223.66 hectares of forest lands to the AP Capital Regional Development Authority. The state government will pay the Centre Rs 1,357 crore for the land, instead of giving an equivalent extent of land elsewhere.

It was also resolved to request the High Court to set up a fast track court for trying finance-related crimes following exposure of cheating the public by companies like Agri Gold, Abhaya Gold, Akshaya Gold and others. The AP government would begin phase-I of the auction of Agri Gold assets on April 20 and April 21.

Accordingly, investors in the company would have to submit their details online. A website which would be launched specifically for this purpose, said IT minister Palle Raghunath Reddy who briefed the media. The entire auction process would be conducted under the supervision of the Sithapathi Committee, appointed by the High Court, Mr Reddy said.

The Cabinet also decided that the present system of land registration would be changed. The AP Registrations Act-22 B would replace the existing Acts to stop duplicate and double registrations. As per the new system, the sub-registrar should have to personally visit the lands and verify the records. The new Act gives the registrar authority to cancel registrations if they find anything amiss during their field visits.

The government will officially celebrate Ugadi, the Telugu New Year at the N-Convention Centre in Vijayawada on April 8. Officials celebrations would also be held in all the 13 districts in the state. Apart from this, the birthday of B.R. Ambedkar would be celebrated in a big way on April 14.  

The call-centres would be set up under the control of APNMDC to monitor the implementation of the free sand scheme. Consumers could contact the call centre and stating their requirement of sand. The decision was taken to effectively implement the free sand policy, Mr Reddy said.

The Cabinet also approved the construction of six lakh houses for the poor in the state. Beside Rs 40 crore was allotted to tackle drinking water scarcity. The Cabinet approved allotment of land for various private wind power projects in Anantapur, Kurnool and Kadapa districts.

The Cabinet also approved the allotment of 600 acres to Hero Honda company on which it will invest Rs 1,600 crore for building a factory with the capacity to produce 18 lakh motorcycles annually.