Taking a dig at the BJP-led NDA Government, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said on Thursday that the Centre had released just ₹650 crore as compensation to the damage suffered in the aftermath of severe cyclone Hudhud despite promising to grant ₹1,000 crore.
He told the students from various colleges and universities at Jnanabheri (knowledge summit) here that the commitments made in the A.P. Reorganisation Act such as Special Category Status (SCS) and formation of separate railway zone with headquarters in Visakhapatnam had remained on paper.
Making it very clear that he did not want to speak politics on such an occasion, he said though the coalition government had betrayed the State, he had taken it as a challenge to build A.P. as a vibrant State.
Mr. Naidu also referred to the grant of meagre ₹500 crore to the flood-ravaged Kerala at a time when the UAE had pledged a grant of ₹700 crore as a humanitarian gesture.
He lauded the Andhra University employees and others for donating ₹21 lakh for relief and rehabilitation work in Kerala, and appealed to all to contribute liberally for a humanitarian cause. The Chief Minister described how within three months of forming the first government of the new State, he had faced the challenge of Hudhud that caused extensive devastation in Visakhapatnam in 2014.
‘Fighting spirit’
“I always salute the spirit of Vizagites who fought back with resilience to restore normalcy in a record time,” he stated. He said Visakhapatnam, the largest city in the State, had a bright future as it was being developed as a Fintech Valley, and appealed to the students to play a key role in developing an innovation valley across the State on the lines of Silicon Valley.