The TDP government has spent about ₹3.20 lakh crore on welfare schemes and development of human resources in the last four-and-a-half years, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has said.
About ₹90,800 crore was spent on sub-plans alone and ₹1.25 lakh crore on education and health, Mr. Naidu said while participating in a short discussion on welfare schemes in the Assembly on Thursday.
Referring to doubts over the government’s ability to mobilise funds on such a massive scale for the welfare schemes and implement them on a sustainable basis, Mr. Naidu said, as one who studied economics, he was confident that by creating wealth, which had been his government’s hallmark, the burgeoning financial requirements could be met without any great difficulty.
Mr. Naidu said his government adopted a “life cycle approach” to welfare, spanning health, education, social security and other components. The successful disbursement of pensions was a major achievement, he claimed.
Sub-plans for minorities
A total of 25 corporations were set up, and the government was contemplating instituting a sub-plan for the minorities (Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Jains) to alleviate their living conditions, he added.
The government concentrated on eradicating poverty, which was the first of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations Organisation, he said. Mitigating hunger and improving public health were the next priorities, he added.
In all the areas of welfare, the government achieved a lot, he said, and added that he would learn from the performance of any previous dispensation had it done better. Inclusive growth was the underlying objective of the slew of welfare schemes being implemented by the TDP government, Mr. Naidu added.
He called upon the MLAs to ensure that the socio-economic benefits reached the targeted sections and liaise with the banks to sort out issues, if any, in disbursal of money.
He also exhorted members of the DWCRA groups and other beneficiaries of various schemes to fight back if injustice was done to them.