Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu today suggested introduction of online system to credit the State government benefits for entrepreneurs in the first week of every month. According to the new policy, electric bills, subsidies, and others will be deposited in the beneficiary’s bank account from April, he said.
In a review meeting held on ‘Ease of Doing Business,’ the Chief Minister suggested major changes. He directed the officials to look into the possibility of reducing the duration of the approval process to 15 days. Citing the Singapore’s model as an example, the Chief Minister explained that the country ranks first in Ease of Doing Business, setting an example for receiving applications, permissions and processing of licenses. He directed the officials to follow the best practices being implemented in Singapore. “We will be able to achieve international standards in Ease of Doing Business when we bring down the grievances and difficulties of investors to zero percent,” he added.
While Andhra Pradesh secured second place in World Bank rankings of Ease of doing Business, the Chief Minister asked the officials to work harder towards crossing Gujarat this year. He suggested to the officials to set up a dedicated bureau system for this. Officials can be appointed at the State and district levels to oversee the process from receiving applications to issuing licenses. The Chief Minister stressed upon bringing in transparency and root out corruption in the process of applications for setting up of industries. He asked the officials to approach the Chief Secretary for any land or water related problem. It has also been decided to issue clearances for MSMEs at the district level. This, he said, will clear pending issues at the Commissioner level faster.
The officials brought to the Chief Minister’s notice that there has been a delay in issuing permits from the Fire Services department. Out of 5,357 applications received last year, 4,655 were approved and 403 were rejected. In this regard, the Chief Minister cited the Singapore’s practice of taking disciplinary action against non-performing officials. He also directed the officials to develop a communication system to update the investors on the status of their pending applications. He asked the officials to resolve legal problems quickly. He further suggested taking assistance from KPMG, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, World Economic Forum and World Bank to achieve desired results. (NSS)
Naidu favors crediting sops to entrepreneurs’ accounts online
