Tony Blair’s policy think-tank offers to help rebuild Andhra Pradesh

The former British Prime Minister Tony Blair offered to collaborate with the government of Andhra Pradesh in the areas of globalisation and governance on behalf of his policy think-tank Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBIGC).

In a meeting with the visiting Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, in Singapore on Friday, Mr. Blair outlined the work that his not-for-profit organisation had been doing since its inception in late 2016 and explained how Andhra Pradesh could benefit from the partnership, especially in the context of the efforts being made to rebuild the State from scratch post-bifurcation.

Mr. Blair promised to send a team of TBIGC, which is currently tied up with 200 institutions of higher learning in India, to draw up the contours of the relationship with Andhra Pradesh.

Mr. Naidu explained the initiatives taken by his government, such as the Real-Time Governance and Comprehensive Financial Management System projects, reforms that catapulted the Andhra Pradesh power sector to leadership at the national level, adoption of technologies such as the Internet of Things, drones and a plethora of other development and welfare programmes aimed at transforming the State into a progressive one. Mr. Naidu made a mention of the Land Pooling Scheme, which made the construction of the capital city Amaravati possible, and invited Mr. Blair to visit Andhra Pradesh to see for himself how the State was moving ahead by clearing the hurdles in its path one by one.

Sachin meets Naidu

Earlier, cricket legend and former Rajya Sabha member Sachin Tendulkar met Mr. Naidu. They discussed the development of Puttamraju Kandriga village in Nellore district that was adopted by the cricketer.