The Andhra Pradesh Government will augment 25 lakh acres of arable land in the next few years. In the first phase, it will spend Rs 7,000 crore to bring in five lakh acres of arable land each in 2011 and 2012.
Addressing the inaugural of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Bhoodan Movement here on Sunday, Mr N Kiran Kumar Reddy, the Chief Minister said that the Government would kick off the programme by launching water harvesting structures and building other relevant infrastructure on October 2, marking the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
“We will implement this in 211 blocks, with each block covering not less than 10,000 acres. Majority of the beneficiaries would be Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes,” he said.
With a view to end corruption in government offices, the State would open dedicated centres to issue revenue certificates in 20 streams digitally. “People need not go to mandal revenue or municipal offices to get birth or registration certificates. After the pilot in three districts, we will extend this to 60 certificates,” he said.
15 lakh jobs
Referring to his promise of creating 15 lakh new jobs, the Chief Minister said the promise was made based on Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) study that pointed out at gaps the industry demand for qualified workforce and lack of skills. The National Academy of Construction (NAC), which equipped 50,000 people every year with various skills required by the construction industry, had been asked to train one lakh people.
“The Government is committed to provide appointment letters to one lakh youth before December end. We have constituted an advisory committee with members from the industry and government to drive the job creation programme,” he said.
The Government had been asked ILFS to provide job-oriented skills to about five lakh people.
Gandhian thought
Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister for Health and President of Gandhi Global Family, related his experience of teaching Gandhian principles in Jammu and Kashmir. Indirectly referring to the Telangana movement, he said youth in this State too should be exposed to preachings of Gandhiji on non-violence.
Bhoodan movement
The State would celebrate 60 years of Bhoodan movement by conducting programmes through out the year till April 18, 2012. On that day in 1951, Mr Vedire Ramachandra Reddy agreed to donate 100 acres for the poor in his village in Nalgonda district, responding to a call by freedom fighter and Gandhi’s close aide Vinoba Bhave.
Mr Azad promised to look into the issue of release of a stamp to commemorate Mr Reddy’s gesture that made Bhave to tour the country extensively and collect 44 lakh acres for the Bhoodan movement.