Amaravati, Aug 5 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday directed officials to ensure that the state’s Ease of Doing Business ranking is propelled to the top.
Addressing the first district collectors’ conference of the new NDA government at the secretariat, the chief minister issued a slew of instructions to officials on a range of departments for the “reconstruction” of the state.
“Andhra Pradesh should be at the top of ease of doing business,” Naidu said, reminding the officials that the state had achieved this distinction for four years during the the TDP government of 2014 to 2019.
One of the observations he made was on the objections of the forest department to the laying of roads. He alleged that when the forests were cleared for the road construction, the department was quiet but when roads are being laid they are obstructing it.
The YSRCP government neither gave primacy to road infrastructure nor spent money on it, he said, adding that no complaints should arise about the national highways that are under construction.
He also directed the officials to focus on the construction of railway crossings and flyovers and said the the construction of nine ports should be completed quickly.
Noting that three new airports will come up in the state, he said the construction of 10 airports in total would be completed.
Blaming the “ill will of the previous government”, Naidu said even people belonging to the state move away from Andhra Pradesh for investments, and said the delayed projects will inflate costs.
Underscoring the importance of ensuring zero power cuts, the CM recalled that the TDP had pioneered power reforms to achieve power surplus and alleged that the YSRCP’s policies had resulted in a power deficit.
Earlier, he directed all district collectors that the “devastated” brand image of the state should be revived through reconstruction.
“There are many problems and this collectors’ conference will set the tone for the reconstruction of the state. This will be a historical conference. We have to revive the damaged brand and at the same time we have to prove that the Andhra administration is one of the best,” Naidu said.
Emphasising the importance of reconstructing the state, the CM noted that a small mistake can be corrected but “a state which has been completely devastated requires extra efforts to rebuild,” alluding to the previous government’s alleged wrongdoings.
Promising to hold a collectors’ conference every quarter, he pointed out that there had been no such conference for five years under the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP government, except the one that ended in the demolition of the Praja Vedika venue — which the TDP government had built as a space for the public to gather to air their grievances.
Calling this conference a tradition, the CM said that best practices must be upheld irrespective of the party in power and taken forward.
According to Naidu, there was a time when the state’s bureaucracy was regarded as one of the best in the country, as it produced successive Central IT secretaries and also a couple of apex bank governors.
Pointing out that Andhra Pradesh bureaucrats also went on to work at The World Bank, he commented that the reputation of the state’s bureaucrats came crashing down under the YSRCP regime.
It even fell to the level of being considered “untouchable” in Delhi, he claimed.
The IAS officers were informed that the state government has readied a 100-day plan to be effectively implemented by the collectors, amid fulfilling their other crucial responsibilities.
PTI STH ANE
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.