Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday called on Union Home Minister Amit Shah. During the meeting that lasted for over an hour, several key issues were discussed.
Presenting the second revised cost estimate for the Polavaram irrigation project, the Chief Minister urged the Home Minister to sanction ₹55,656 crore for the purpose.
R&R package
Urging the Home Minister to issue directions to the Union Irrigation and Finance Ministries to reimburse the cost of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation of evacuees as per the LA Act 2013, the Chief Minister said the number of project oustees had gone up to 1.06 lakh from 44,574 earlier. “Hence, the cost of Resettlement and Rehabilitation has gone up,’ the Chief Minister pointed out.
Stating that bills for the project had been pending since 2018, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said any further delay could increase the project cost considerably.
Vaccination
The Chief Minister also said the State government was ready with arrangements for administering Covaxin vaccine.
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy also raised the issue of Special Category Status and urged Mr. Amit Shah to consider the State’s appeal favourably.
The Chief Minister also took up the issue of certification from the Central Power Ministry to get additional loan from Central agencies in view of the COVID lockdown.
GST arrears
He also urged the Home Minister to disburse ₹1,600 crore towards rice subsidy and GST arrears of ₹4,308.46 crore pending since April 2020.
He also urged Mr. Amit Shah to release ₹1,111.53 crore grant to the local bodies and ₹1,954 crore grant under the 15th Finance Commission, and pending arrears under NREGS of ₹3,801.98 crore.
Three capitals
The Chief Minister also urged the Home Minister to issue a notification for locating the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Kurnool and Executive Capital in Visakhapatnam as the relevant Acts had been passed in the State Legislative Assembly.