Andhra Pradesh State cabinet has taken several key decisions, including approval of the new Information Technology (IT) policy, and food processing policy both for 2021-24 and to provide laptops for students studying in classes 9-12 in lieu of the cash incentives under Amma Vodi and Vasati Deevena schemes.
Farmers’ Day
It also decided to observe Farmers’ Day on July 8 commemorating the birth anniversary of Dr YS Rajashekar Reddy while also deciding to return farm lands taken for Kakinada SEZ to the farmers .
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The cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, decided to provide laptops to students of classes 9-12 in lieu of cash incentives under the Amma Vodi and Vasati Deevena schemes. Around 8,21,655 students from classes 9-12 classes and 1,10,779 beneficiaries of Vasati Deevena have opted for a laptop instead of cash incentive.
The Government will provide branded laptops from Lenevo, HP, Dell, Acer at a lower cost than in the market. The laptops come with dual processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB hard disk, 14 inch screen, Windows 10 and three year warranty.
The cabinet further gave nod for establishment of Andhra Kesari University in Prakasam district and making Vizianagaram JNTU Engineering College into a university by amending the JNTU Act-2008. In this regard, the government sanctioned 24 additional teaching posts and 17 non-teaching posts.
The State Cabinet gave approval for 2021–24 IT policy, prioritising the development of infra in three concept cities. The government will also establish digital libraries at Gram Panchayat levels and provide high speed internet facilities to villages. For this, the government is setting up an IT Emerging Technologies Research University in Visakhapatnam.
Kakinada lands
Significantly, the Cabinet decided to return 2,180 acres of land, which was originally sought to be acquired for the Kakinada Special Economic Zone (SEZ) back in 2007, to the farmers following a protracted struggle. All the additional costs like stamp duty, transfer fee and registration fee will be borne by the State government.