Minister for Housing and Information & Public Relations, Kolusu Parthasarathy, has said that quality liquor will be sold at Rs 99, which was sold by the previous YSRCP government at Rs 120. The Minister briefed the media persons that the Cabinet decided to adopt a private retail system for sale of liquor as part of an attempt to increase the management efficiency. Of the 3,736 retail outlets in the State, 10 per cent will be allotted to the toddy-tappers, the Minister stated.
“The Chief Minister directed the Excise officials to see to it that quality liquor is available in the market at a very reasonable price,” Parthasarathy said, adding that the allotment of retail outlets will be done in the most transparent way. For this, a lottery system will be adopted, he added.
Besides, the proposal to provide 33 per cent reservation for Backward Classes (BCs) in legislative bodies got the Cabinet nod. The meeting also resolved establishing the Artificial Intelligence (AI) University and a Skilling Academy in the State.
The GO, which provides payment of Rs 200 for village volunteers and secretariats, will be revoked as it results in causing Rs 102-crore loss to the State per annum. The Cabinet approved to name the Bhogapuram airport as the Alluri Seetharamaraju International Airport and to set up the Andhra Pradesh Ex-Servicemen Corporation with a corpus fund of Rs 3 crore.
“The meeting also decided to rename the Vision Document Vikasitha Andhra-2047 as the Swarnandhra@2047 and also release the Swarnandhra Vision Document on November 1,” the Minister told media persons. Before releasing the Vision Document, talks will be held with the stakeholders from September 21 to October 5, he added.
The Cabinet gave its nod for the GOs released on June 12 and August 25 to fill 58 posts in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) on temporary basis, Parthasarathy said. The Chief Minister advised the Cabinet to initiate steps to strengthen the systems by utilising the technology and good practices that are available now.
The Ministry also okayed the proposal for the creation of preliminary corpus fund of Rs 100 crore for 2024-25 financial year only to take the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) on the progressive path extending the benefits received under the Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme of the Centre to these MSMEs. With this, the MSMEs will get the loan facility to the extent of Rs 5 crore without providing any collateral security, Parthasarathy explained.
The Council of Ministers cleared the proposal for establishing the second MSME Technology Centre-cum-Testing Facility at Amaravathi instead of at Mega Industrial Hub at Kopparthy in Kadapa district. The Cabinet approved the move to hand over 20 acres of land to this through the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) in Amaravathi.
The Cabinet approved the ratification orders of the Polavaram Chief Engineer to continue the present agency Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited (MEIL) for the construction of a new diaphragm wall works of the Polavaram project, which is considered to be the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh. The fresh works to be taken up will be carried out in a transparent way through bidding, he added.
The Chief Minister directed the Minister for Irrigation to take steps to fill all the reservoirs and minor irrigation tanks in Rayalaseema in this season itself. The GO already issued renaming the Rythu Bharosa Centres and Rythu Seva Centres was ratified by the Cabinet.
