People First: Naidu Tells Collectors

Vijayawada: Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has emphasized the need for every government official to function as a "public servant" rather than being an authority.

Addressing the Collectors Conference on Wednesday, he said, “People First” should be the guiding principle for governance. “We must strive to promote the vision of a Healthy, Wealthy and Happy society.”

Every bureaucrat in the state should function as a public servant, and not as a feudal authority. 'People First' is the policy of the state government, he stressed.

Naidu said the previous government had not only left a huge debt burden ofover Rs.10 lakh crore but also utilised funds meant for the coming two years.

He said, the 'Speed of Doing Business' initiative should encompass the administration too and all government decisions should be implemented at a brisk pace. The district collectors should compete with one another and only then can the expected results be achieved, he felt.

"I am giving an opportunity to all of you to prove yourself," he told the collectors.

The CM also said that the Swarnandhra Vision-2047 will be unveiled on December 13 and the district collectors must keep in mind the state’s goal of achieving a 15 per cent growth rate.

Focus on issues like P-4 policy, zero poverty, providing employment, increasing the population, water conservation and bringing down investments in farming to increase the farmers' revenue,” he said.

Informing the collectors that mafia gangs have been engaged in acts like land grabbing, looting sand, ganja cultivation, smuggling of drugs and red sanders, and even ration rice, Naidu said district collectors should enforce law on all these criminal gangs.

Stating that the state government is transforming Andhra Pradesh into a knowledge society, Naidu said the interlinking of Google with RTGS would bring radical changes in the administration process.

He said seven white papers have been released on the prevailing conditions of the state while 20 fresh policies have been adopted. “Till now, over Rs.4 lakh crore in investments have been made in the state since the time we took power five months ago, and these will create over four lakh jobs.”

For the development of Amaravati, a fund of Rs.31,000 crore has been mobilised, he said.

“Pensions are being distributed to over 64 lakh beneficiaries, by spending Rs.33,000 crore from the exchequer per annum while 40 lakh cooking gas cylinders have been supplied to poor families under Deepam-2 scheme.”

The CM added, “Till now 199 Anna Canteens have been opened while the Parent-Teacher meetings were organised with the active participation of 1.2 crore persons in 43,000 schools.” He also said a Mega DSC will soon be conducted to fill over 16,000 vacant teacher posts.