Striving for special status; Naidu urges youth not to end their lives

Making a statement in the Assembly on the second day on the issue of special status to the State, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said it was unfortunate that some people were committing suicides thinking that the State would not get special status. He urged youth not to take any hasty step.

The Chief Minister said, “We are facing problems since people were not taken into confidence at the time of bifurcation of the State. It was first time in the history of the country that the State was divided under Article 3 of the Constitution”, he said, adding that his government has capacity to complete Polavaram project. “We have already urged the Centre to give special package and concession to industries in the State. We have to provide rehabilitation to 200 villages”, he added.

The Chief Minister informed the House that Rs 5,000 crore loan has been sanctioned for Vizag-Chennai corridor . During the meeting with the Prime Minister, the first agenda was special status to the State, he pointed out. He also explained that the State government asked the Centre to help Andhra Pradesh until it reaches to the level of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra States. “We forged an alliance with the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre keeping in view of State’s interests.

Speaking on the issue, Opposition leader Jagan said if Prime Minsiter takes a decision, the State would get special status immediately. It took seven months to repeal Planning Commission after Narendra Modi came to power. Had we demanded before it, the State would have got special status, Jagan said. (NSS)