Centre Committed to AP’s Development: Union Minister Varma

Visakhapatnam: Union minister of state for steel, Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma, once again addressed the issue of the Visakha Steel Plant. During his visit to Visakhapatnam on Monday, he expressed his commitment to resolving the “challenges faced by the region.”

Minister Varma was welcomed at the Visakhapatnam airport by state health minister Satyakumar Yadav.

In his statement issued at the Visakha BJP office, Srinivasa Varma highlighted the difficult economic conditions being faced by AP. He cited chief minister Chandrababu Naidu's visits to Delhi, where discussions with various central authorities revealed concerns regarding the allocation and utilization of funds by the AP government over the past five years – the YSRC term.

The Union minister emphasised the need for transparency and accountability in the management of funds allocated by the Centre. “There has to be more clarity on fund allocations. A lack of this in the past has created obstacles in securing further financial support from the Centre,” he said.

The Union minister promised the chief minister that the Centre was committed to contributing its share for the development of Andhra Pradesh. He underscored the Center's promise to support the development of Amaravati as the state capital.

In a separate development, leaders of the Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee and Jana Shakti Majdoor Sabha met BJP state president D Purandeswari and submitted to her a memorandum outlining their demands.

They urged her to oppose the government's decision to privatise RINL and seek the swift re-merger of RINL with SAIL. This appeal followed a 12-hour protest by family members of the steel plant.

In the evening, the Visakhapatnam district BJP leadership felicitated Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma, along with state health minister Satya Kumar Yadav, as also Daggubati Purandeshwari, Anakapalle BJP MP, CM Ramesh, BJP Visakha North MLA Penumatsa Vishnu Kumar Raju, and BJP MLA Etcherla N Ishwar Rao.