The Chandrababu Naidu administrations retreat from populism and stringent fiscal restructuring appears to have paid off, with Andhra Pradesh set to become the first state in the country to receive a structural adjustment loan directly from the World Bank.
The Chief Minister told a one-day conference of district collectors here yesterday that a loan of about Rs 5,000 crore had been arranged from the bank. This arrangement marks a significant departure from the existing procedure, which stipulates that all such loans should be routed through the Centre.
The World Bank has agreed to provide a Rs 1,600-crore loan to fund several ongoing major irrigation projects in the state, said Naidu. Another Rs 1,400 crore has been sanctioned for highway development, while Rs 800 crore has been released to facilitate reconstruction work in last years cyclone-hit areas.
The Chief Minister told the district collectors that the massive flow of direct World Bank credit had eased the states fiscal crisis. Andhra Pradesh is now flush with funds, which should be utilised to create permanent assets, he emphasised. At the same time, he cautioned the collectors that all the money flowing into the state would have to be paid back one day. Therefore, the collectors should exercise care and invest the money judiciously in developmental projects that would generate revenue, he said.
Our problem today is not one of lack of funds, but of non-utilisation of available funds. Utilise them with tact, Naidu urged the collectors. After two years of fiscal fire-fighting, when the state was struggling to even meet establishment costs, the Chief Minister was clearly pleased at being able to talk about development activities. An upbeat Naidu sanctioned almost all the collectors requests on the spot.
Justifying the governments recent decision to partially lift prohibition, Naidu said his government wanted to adopt a realistic rather than a hypocritical approach towards the dry law.
Total prohibition had only resulted in the emergence of mafia gangs and smuggling, pointed out Naidu, while directing the collectors to mercilessly check smuggling, seconds sales and illicit distillation.
The one-day conference revie -wed the progress of several programmes including housing, em -ployment generation, drinking wa- ter, computerisation of multi-purpose household cards and wo -mens empowerment schemes.
It also discussed the programme content and preparatory actions for the next round of the Janmabhoomi programme, Naidus dream project of involving people in developmental activities and taking the administration to villages to resolve the common mans grievances.
The second round of the programme is slated to take place between May 1 and 8.
The state government has allocated Rs 200 crore in this years budget for the scheme, while the World Bank has agreed to provide another Rs 200 crore for the programme.
