Andhra Pradesh Prime Minister Jaganmohan Reddy spoke with Vinod Sharma about the late GST payments, the new education policy, the three-capital system, and his YSR Congress Party’s relationship with the Bharatiya Janata Party, among others. themes. Edited excerpts:
The Center has lagged behind in paying GST offsets to states. If the stagnation persists, are you willing to borrow from the market? What will be its impact on the Andhra treasure?
It’s okay. They are taking time and so far they are paying a little late. Not that they have drastically reduced it. They have passed [the money] with some delays. This is understandable considering the Covid situation and its impact on the country’s economy. The only way to overcome the crisis is to borrow. The Center has also asked states to apply for additional loans. Since we are unable to tax people more, we are working on possible additional options to generate income.
In the context of the New Education Policy (NEP), how do you advance your promise of middle English in schools?
The problem is up to Class V. The new education policy says that after Class V, there is no obligation to have the mother tongue as a medium of instruction. In other words, we can implement Middle English in Class VI schools in the way that we have designed and planned. Until class V, the mother tongue should be given primacy. While still complying with national policy, we can begin to provide more and more input in English up to Class V so that students are equipped to switch to Middle English from Class VI.
We decided to introduce the medium of English not because we like English and want to neglect our mother tongue. It is because we wanted to bring justice. Those who can afford it send their children to middle schools in English, while the children of the poor are forced to study in regional languages. Students with experience in private schools are eliminating a large part of the jobs in the public and private sectors. The idea of secondary education in English is to create an egalitarian platform. If private schools across the country introduce the mother tongue as the medium of instruction up to Class V, in accordance with the new education policy, then there is no problem.
After the creation of Telangana, its predecessor Chandrababu Naidu sought special category status from the Andhra Center. He wanted to build a profitable city in the state comparable to Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai. You haven’t heard much of that since he became CM.
We cannot waive the claim for special category status. An agricultural-based state like Andhra can take off industrially only if some quality industrial incentives are given. That would be the biggest incentive since the revenue shortfall is being fixed anyway. Both the former Finance Commission and the current Finance Commission have addressed the problem of the revenue shortfall. The so-called financial package will not help address the fundamental issue of industrial incentives.
On the subject of the income-generating city, I call it perverted thinking. Nowhere in the world has it been tested. Big cities grow for decades and centuries. Investing Rs 1 lakh crore to build a mega meter is not feasible. Forget about the extra income, you can’t even pay the debt you’ve spent on infrastructure. What is the contribution of major cities in the United States to its economy? Take, for example, a place called Omaha. With a population of 4 lakh, it is home to 23 of the world’s Fortune 500 companies. That’s where Warren Buffet stays. Bill Gates operates out of Seattle.
We can have growth centers where industries can be promoted. Covid’s experience tells us that most cities eventually get sick. Do we have so many resources to build the so-called Amaravathi? The Boston Consultancy Group looked at it from an economic perspective and said its investments are not viable.
That brings one to his plans to have separate capitals for the three arms of the State: the executive, the judicial and the legislative. The matter is sub-judice. But you can share the administrative vision behind the move.
The three capitals is the perception of a layman. The functions of the capital city are being distributed: executive functions of Visakhapatnam, legislative functions of Amaravathi and judicial functions of Kurnool. These are the exact words used by the Sivaramakrishnan Committee. The functions of the capital can be distributed between different places. Why should all these functions have to be performed from a particular place?
The residual state of Andhra Pradesh suffered twice in the past because of Chennai and Hyderabad. That’s what history tells us. If you put all your eggs in one basket, you are going to suffer. So why do you want to continue the same approach without taking past experiences into account? It is not a logical and rational thought.
The document prepared by the above scheme says you need Rs 1 lakh crore. Instead of planning the construction of a so-called city in a place that is not suitable for the construction of any megastructure on 33,000 acres of land acquired or pooled from farmers, he (Naidu) could have planned something on 500 acres elsewhere. The special investigation team is investigating land deals by unearthing the benamis of my predecessor and his cronies. People with vested interests bought land from poor farmers. Then came the announcement of the capital and the subsequent scam. Those who bought land at throwaway prices benefited to the tune of billions of rupees.
What do you say to the critics that you want to demote Amaravathi to disparage Naidu?
This is absurd. Why should we care about Amaravathi? We believe in the integral development of the state. We did not leave Amaravathi. The legislature will continue to work from Amaravathi.
How do you describe your relationship with the BJP, which your party has often supported in Parliament? Are you a close ally or a problem-based supporter?
We put the interests of our state ahead of others [matters] and navigate in that direction to address all issues. We believe that special category status for Andhra will be a reality, if not now, in the near future. Our support will be problem-based and tailored to the betterment of our state in all respects.
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