Hyderabad, January 14:Former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s pet programme ‘Racha Banda’ which was out of the purview of the beneficiaries till recently is to be revived and organised from January 24 to February 12 with a commitment of spending Rs 1200 crore in all for the benefit of farmers and weaker sections among others.
Speaking to media persons at the Secretariat on Thursday, Minister for Housing Kanna Lakshminarayana stated that the state government has decided to release the amount but Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is yet to decide the launching venue.
Mr Lakshminarayana was briefing the press after a review meeting on the subject with the Chief Minister in the chair, where he said that the programme will be attended by the constituency MLA and officials concerned to oversee the implementation of the schemes under the Racha Banda.
Abhaya Hastham, Rajiv Arogyasri, Housing to weaker sections, Pavala Vaddi, pensions, NREGS cards and AADHAR cards issue, will figure in the proposed programme.
The issue of AADHAR cards is likely to be delayed by three months due to certain anomalies in the voters’ list and so the government has proposed to issue temporary cards in its place to provide benefits to the beneficiaries, the Minister said.
SC/ST groups will be enrolled under Abhaya Hastham, including women.
The old GO 171 earlier issued, which specified issue of 4.74 lakh houses were pending which will be taken up under Racha Banda to the extent of sanctioning amount up to basement level constructions.
The NREGS will facilitate issue of cards and increase of payment from Rs 100 to Rs 120 to the beneficiaries, the Chief Minister decided.
The poor groups which were to receive loans under Pavala Vaddi to the extent of Rs 450
crore during 2010 was kept pending. The same will be taken up before the Racha Banda, the Chief Minister decided.
Asked about the political situation, the Minister criticised the views expressed by Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu and cornered him for ditching the farmers and stoppage of ex gratia to the kin of those committed suicides.
Mr Lakshminarayana sarcastically charged Mr Naidu of simply shedding crocodile tears for farmers and in effect doing nothing for their welfare.
He also pointed out that thousands of farmers were jailed under his rule.
Asked about stability in the light of Mr YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s statement, the Minister replied that the Kiran Kumar Reddy government will rule till 2014. (INN)