PNS | VIJAYAWADA
YSRCP parliamentary party leader V Vijayasai Reddy attended the all-party meeting held in Delhi on Wednesday, ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament. After the meeting, the YSRCP MP spoke to the media persons and explained the points raised during the meeting.
He said YSRCP discussed the issue of Special Category Status (SCS) for AP, which was assured by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for 10 years in the Rajya Sabha during the then Congress government’s rule. And even after the Congress government lost and the BJP government came to power, it has not kept its promise till day. Special status is necessary for Andhra as it is the right of the people of the State. He once again urged the union government during the all-party meeting to provide special status.
He said that YSRCP had very clear policies regarding BCs from the beginning. He said that YSRCP appealed to the union government to implement 50 per cent reservation for BCs on the basis of population. In Andhra Pradesh, currently 15 per cent reservation is being implemented for SCs and seven per cent for STs. Similarly, reservation for backward classes is 27 per cent though they are more than 50 per cent of the country’s population.
Strict law should be enforced against defection. The Constitution says this in the 10th schedule, but it has been completely debilitated. Neither the Congress government nor the BJP government acted sincerely in the implementation of that law. The matter was raised at the all-party meeting, said Vijayasai Reddy.
He said that the BJP government was positive in granting funds for the Polavaram project. Recently, it sanctioned Rs 12,911 crore in Phase-1 regarding this project. “We have appealed to the Centre to release the remaining funds of Rs 4,233 crore as soon as possible,” he said. Vijayasai Reddy said that the Andhra Pradesh government had already spent Rs 1,310 crore on this project. They have requested the Centre to release the due amount soon.
He said that the South Coastal Railway Zone had to be established with Visakhapatnam as the centre as per Schedule 13, 8 of the AP Redistricting Act. It has been four years since the government announced the establishment of the South Coastal Railway Zone. It has been three years since the DPR was submitted, but the South Coastal Railway Zone has not yet been realised.
Vijayasai Reddy stated that YSRCP had already made the opinion on Vizag Steel Plant clear to the Centre several times. “We mentioned it once again at the all-party meeting. The Central government’s decision to privatise the Vizag steel plant is not acceptable to the people of Andhra Pradesh under any circumstances, so the government should withdraw this decision immediately.”
The policy of the BJP government is to privatise loss-making public sector industries. But the Vizag steel plant is a profitable company. Vijayasai Reddy said that all the YSRCP MPs would raise all these issues in the monsoon Parliament session and fight on behalf of the people of Andhra Pradesh.
