‘People’s capital’ Amaravati will create wealth, jobs: CM

Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, on Wednesday, declared that Amaravati is a people’s capital which will be a centre for creating wealth, employment and poverty alleviation. Releasing a White Paper at the State Secretariat in Amaravati, the Chief Minister felt that the former Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has totally betrayed the entire Telugu community by destroying Amaravati.
The Chief Minister is of the opinion that had the progress of Amaravati been continued it would have become another Hyderabad. Making it clear that the State government will certainly fulfil the commitment made to the people, the CM announced that the State capital will be rebuilt. “The people have reposed faith in us and we will certainly fulfil it by rebuilding the capital,” he said.
“When we were seriously contemplating the name of the capital, the media baron, the Late Ramoji Rao, after a detailed study suggested the name Amaravati, which he said will create history. People in the entire State have hailed this,” Chandrababu pointed out.
Recalling how the foundation stone was laid for Amaravati, the CM said that the area has been selected as it is exactly in the middle of the whole State, 12 Lok Sabha constituencies on either side. Majority of the people in the State, too, had suggested to the SivaRamakrishnan Committee that the capital should be between Krishna and Guntur districts, he added.
“Despite having a Rs 15,000-crore deficit budget, I wanted to build Amaravati with all my experience in building Cyberabad. Initially I felt whether land-pooling was possible. But, 34,400 farmers have come forward voluntarily,” he added.
“The Centre has agreed to extend Rs 2,500 crore financial aid for building Amaravati,” the CM said, adding that of this amount, Rs 1,500 crore was already released. Jagan Mohan Reddy, too, in his capacity as the then Leader of the Opposition, admitted on the floor of the Assembly that capital should be in the midst of the State. We all know how he has taken ‘U’ turn later and what kind of decisions he has taken, Chandrababu pointed out.
Besides the World Bank, AIIB, JACA and other organisations have come forward to extend financial assistance for building the capital, he said and stated that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed with Singapore. Informing how he has moved forward with a vision to transform Amaravati as a knowledge economy hub and a centre for economy, the Chief Minister said that a master plan has been designed to have all the important government buildings like the secretariat, State Assembly and the High Court to be at one place besides giving top priority for greenery.
“But soon after YSRCP came to power, the destruction started by demolishing the Praja Vedika,” Chandrababu said, observing that later three capitals were announced. Chandrababu made it clear that the remains of Praja Vedika are not being removed as the people should always recollect the “destructive rule” of YSRCP soon after having a look at these remnants.
The Chief Minister regretted that the very brand of Andhra Pradesh has been hit hard with the style of functioning of the previous rule. Making it clear that there is no question of going back on taking Amaravati much forward, Chandrababu said: “We will relaunch the works of the capital where they were halted and will resolve all the legal tangles.”
Chandrababu promised to take steps to build houses for all those homeless and said that all the problems created by the previous YSRCP rule, like non-supply of water to AIIMS, will be overcome. Expressing serious concern, Chandrababu maintained: “I have never experienced this kind of situation wherein all the systems have collapsed.”