The new NDA Government, in line with the vision of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, is all set to effect a major policy overhaul in Andhra Pradesh in almost all major departments shortly.
While revamp of policies is generally expected with the change of Government every time, what makes Andhra Pradesh special this time is the possibility of a ‘total turnaround’ given in line with pre-poll manifesto of NDA Front of Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Jana Sena (JS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
While immediate changes in the policies of land-titling, liquor, sand and land titles are already on the cards and official announcements are expected soon, a broader policy framework will be evolved by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu shortly after the allocation of portfolios to all 24 cabinet ministers who were sworn in on Tuesday.
A major reshuffle of the officials, keeping in mind “efficiency and honesty”, will be effected by the end of this week, according to sources.
Changes have already been effected in liquor policy, however, framing of a complete official liquor/excise policy will be done in due course.
“The AP Beverages Corporation has already effected healthy changes and has removed low-quality and local liquor brands brought in by the previous Government. Steps are being taken to ensure availability of all brands,’‘ a senior official said. The state - government is also likely to review the practice of sale of liquor by the government and might do away with it.
Sand policy, which was being seen as one of the main reasons for the debacle of the YS Jagan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party, is only one of the priorities in the new Government’s list.
As a preparatory step, all the major departments including Finance, will bring out papers on the current status to identify the threshold point for the new Government to begin the work.
This is also necessary before the preparation of the full-fledged Budget Estimates for the financial year 2024-25 to be presented next month.