Crony capitalism proving disastrous to Andhra Pradesh: CPI(M)

Prime assets of the State are being cornered by a few corporate houses close to the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, leader alleges

The YSR Congress Party(YSRCP) government’s policy of selling away prime assets, including non-major ports(NMPs), to a particular corporate house is proving disastrous to the State’s economy, said Communist Party of India (Marxist) State Secretary V. Srinivasa Rao.

Addressing the media here on Tuesday, Mr. Srinivasa Rao alleged that the prime assets of the State were being cornered by a few corporate houses close to the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders. Prime property of cooperative dairies were handed over to a leading dairy major by the YSRCP government for reasons best known to it, he charged.

The education sector stood ruined with the introduction of BYJU’S e-learning programmes in schools, he contended, adding that except for a select few corporate institutions, all schools were on the verge of downing the shutters ‘

“Where is the need for e-learning programmes in State-run schools even after the pandemic has subsided?,” he said, adding that in-class learning is always better than online education. It was unfair to force the poor students to purchase smart phones for the purpose, he said.

Questioning the YSRCP’s “sincerity” in protecting the major central public sector unit of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, he alleged that it blindly followed the economic policies of the Centre on various issues. The CPI(M) would fight against the Centre’s power sector reforms adopted by the YSRCP government. The CPI(M) would wage a protracted struggle against fixing meters to farm pump sets by spending over ₹6,000 crore, he asserted, adding that the money spent on smart meters would in no way enable improving the quality of power supplied to farmers.

Expressing concern over the inordinate delay in the completion of the multi-crore Veligonda project to bring Krishna water from Srisailam to fluorosis-affected people in Prakasam district, he lamented that several deadlines set in the past had been missed.

“The party will intensify stir if the project is not completed before next Ugadi (March),” he added. Noting that the local bodies were suffering due to alleged diversion of Central funds by the State government, he said 40% of the State’s financial resources should be devolved to local bodies for them to function effectively.