Andhra Pradesh Government plans to come out with a new land development policy which makes landowners, including farmers, stakeholders in the project that comes up on the land acquired.
State Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that the policy will be friendly to the owner of the property and by making him a stakeholder, it will encourage him to be part of the development process. This will be useful while setting up a new capital between Vijayawada-Guntur region or any other area identified by the Government.
Further, he explained that such policy will be useful for setting up couple of Smart Cities as a part of the Central Government initiative to set up 100 smart cities in the country.
Addressing a press conference, he said post the division of the State without a capital and inadequate funds to develop it is a major issue. It would be hard for the new State, which begins with a deficit to mobilise funds for land acquisition. Therefore, owners’ stakeholders will encourage them to be part of the process.
He said that the State Government would come out with details, possibly white paper to explain to the people the current financial position of the State and power supply situation and other aspects so that they are aware of the ground realities.
Polavaram issue
Referring to the Polavaram issue, Naidu wanted to know why there is objection from Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao as they would also benefit from the project. The Central Government has agreed to pay liberal compensation to the displaced and assured to rehabilitate them to ensure that the project gets completed.
Crop loan waiver
On the new Government’s decision to announce crop loan waiver, he said that a committee has been appointed to provide initial report on the waiver. The committee includes former Nabard chairman, P Kotaiah and former IRDA chairman CS Rao. After they submit the preliminary report, the final report will be made ready within 30 days thereafter.