Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu lauds collectors' work

Vijayawada: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said Monday that the AP government has set a Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) target of 15 per cent, and collectors should take this as a challenge and introduce "best practices" in governance to maintain the double digit growth for the future too.

Addressing the collectors' conference here, Mr Naidu said AP continued to face several challenges from the state bifurcation, but still registered a double digit growth rate. He congratulated the collectors and officials for this achievement and advised them to keep this up and help make the state the world's best investment destination. The government could reach the 15 per cent GSDP target in the next three months by “grounding projects which are yet to be initiated.” Only then could the state survive the present financial crisis, he said.

Referring to the central government’s assurances, he said AP has been pleading for the Special Category Status. There was also a shortfall in receipts. Only Rs 2,300 crore was received so far from the Centre to fill the gap of Rs 16,079 crore fiscal deficit. Such a financial help had been promised by the Centre during the state bifurcation. The railway zone for Vizag was still not granted, but Rs 850 crore for Amaravati and Rs 1,000 crore for Vijayawada and Guntur cities have been allotted to the state from the Centre, the CM said.

The government had already submitted to the Centre the details of the state's spending towards the Polavaram project, the first phase of which would be completed in 2018. "Several districts registered better growth rate but some are lagging," he said and advised the collectors to do better.

The CM said that, in some districts, efforts were on to aggravate problems between castes, religions and regions. Collectors should ensure that welfare schemes and government plans were implemented by involving people of all sections. Legislators could go for the next elections by highlighting the government's performance, that would ensure them success, he said.