The Andhra Pradesh cabinet today ratified a massive populist package of sops worth about Rs 2,000 crore for various sections of the society including farmers, weaker sections and girl students.
The string of welfare measures originally proposed at the recently concluded Telugu Desam Party's biennial convention, Mahanadu, at Tirupati, included a Rs 601-crore interest waiver on co-operative farm loans given by both centre and state governments, Rs 150-crore crop insurance, Rs 50-crore financial assistance for two lakh farmers' self-help groups and Rs 70-crore subsidy for seeds and fertilisers.
Aimed at benefiting one crore people, these measures also include Rs 228 crore worth economic benefit schemes for various sections of backward classes, electrification of 3,878 scheduled caste villages with an outlay of Rs 78 crore and 2,746 tribal villages with an outlay of Rs 110 crore.
The cabinet also decided to provide two lakh bicycles for girl students of class eighth to junior intermediate at a cost of Rs 30 crore, 32.5 lakh toilets in rural areas and 500 hostel buildings and 300 community halls for scheduled castes.
The cabinet also sanctioned 6.47 lakh houses to be constructed this year with the state subsidy of Rs 353.78 crore and central subsidy of Rs 318 crore.
Offerings sops to almost all sections of the people the welfare package envisages personal accident insurance for two lakh rickshaw pullers at a cost of Rs 2 crore and ten lakh house sites for scheduled castes.
Giving details of the welfare packages after the Cabinet meeting here today, the chief minister, N Chandrababu Naidu, said that,
