'I am ready for probe into my, Naidu's assets'

Q&A - Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy

Development projects in Andhra Pradesh are as transparent as they can be, says Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy.

The biggest economic and political problem Andhra Pradesh is facing today is the low minimum support price (MSP) for paddy. The Opposition has not allowed the Assembly to run and farmers are on the streets.
Yes, this is an issue and we presented our point of view to the prime minister. Till 1996, the MSPs for wheat and paddy were roughly the same. The disparity has been rising by Rs 60 to Rs 80 every year. This year, the MSP for wheat is Rs 850 per quintal, while it is Rs 695 for paddy. So paddy prices don't reflect the all-round rise in prices.

Between 1978 and 2005, the salaries of state employees went up by 12 to 14 times. My point is that the rural economy is not growing as much as the urban economy. There is no buoyancy. The problem is that small land holdings make agriculture unremunerative. And until agriculture pays, the farmers will have no money left to boost productivity. The problems of agriculture are reflected in farmers' suicides. Drastic measures are needed to improve the economies of the states and we have to think how to pay them better for the produce.

The prime minister appreciated our point of view. But we understand his problems. If the MSP is hiked, rice prices in the open market, which are Rs 10-12 per kg, will go up by Rs 5-6. Besides, the government's payouts will go up by as much as Rs 5,000 crore. This is not a small sum of money.

Even the ban on export of non-basmati rice is hitting us hard. About six lakh tonnes of rice is stranded at the Kakinada port. This will cause a loss of Rs 3 crore per day to exporters, thereby to farmers.

There is, of course, a bigger issue for farmers in the state: Water.
What we are putting in place is to address precisely that. Our Jalayagnam project will take water to every farmer in the state. In the past three-and-a-half years, 1.12 million acres have been covered. This year, another 700,000 plus acres will be added, and over 2.5 million acres over the next two years. Except for the Polavaram project, others are moving ahead swiftly. This is reflected in allocation on irrigation "" Rs 13,000 crore in this year's budget against Rs 9,000 crore spent last year.

What is the problem with Polavaram?
Some political parties had gone to court, but that has now been sorted out. What should have taken six months has taken four years. That is because of the huge land acquisition involved, the project "" over 100,000 acres.

When so much money is spent, there are charges of corruption. The corrupt image your government has got appears to have cancelled the good work you have done. Worse, it is your allies at the Centre, the Left, that are your biggest critics in the state.
When you launch a big programme, there will be some aberrations. Maybe there are some small complaints about the quality of work. But when it has been brought to our notice, we have acted promptly. In 41 different places in the district where construction has taken place, we have had open discussions. We have asked the Opposition parties to tell us about the irregularities. We don't need to shy away from anything. We're ready to inquire.

From the issue of tender prices itself, we have been vigilant. The Supreme Court observed that the case doesn't look like a public interest litigation, it looks like a private interest litigation because vested interests have got involved in protests.

Even schemes like the Indiramma project (a massive housing scheme for the marginalised) are marred by corruption charges.
What corruption can there be in this scheme? OK, some people might have claimed two houses, but they have been found out and the allotments cancelled. A total of 2.5 million houses have been sanctioned and all the names are on the website. There are no contractors. The beneficiaries are getting the allotment directly. We are saying tell us if there is an irregularity, we will punish the guilty.

The allegation is that houses have been given only to Congress workers and villages, and others have been left out, especially in the Kurnool and Mahboobnagar districts.
It is not possible to do that. The Indiramma scheme is in three phases and works on the concept of making Adarsha Graamalu (model villages). Some villages may have been earmarked for allocation in the second or third phase but all of them will be covered. There can't be a Congress or a Telugu Desam Party (TDP) village. The saturation housing concept is not known anywhere else in India. If one village has the Indiramma scheme, it will have everything else too"" old-age pension, jobs, etc. If there is any discrimination, I have said, tell us.

What about allegations by leader of opposition Chandrababu Naidu that you are amassing wealth at a rate of Rs one crore per hour?
I responded by saying that I am ready for any inquiry on assets acquired by both of us since we joined politics. Knowing that it is not possible, Chandrababu Naidu is demanding an inquiry by a sitting judge of the high court.

Despite all this work you've done, there is an area that doesn't want to stay with Andhra Pradesh. I understand there are people in Andhra, coastal Andhra, who are saying that if Telangana wants a separate state, we should just give it to them.
Is that so? I haven't heard this.

But are you for smaller states?
It is not up to me. We have to decide by consensus among the people of Andhra. The Congress entered into an alliance with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) after deciding, as far back as 2004, that a Second States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) should be constituted. One more step was taken in the common minimum programme (CMP) when we said a consensus should be reached on the reorganisation of states. The Congress will have to decide what to do.

One reason so many problems are arising on regional disparities is the perception that industrialisation has been limited to big towns, like Hyderabad, Vishakapatnam...
It is a problem, but I don't agree that no other towns have been developed. Nellore is developing into a major centre. We're making a port there and land is available. Guntur and Prakasam are shaping up as textile centres. Vishakapatnam has developed as a garment centre.