Andhra Cabinet Vows Strict Action Against Crime, Social Media Mischief
CM Chandrababu Naidu calls for stricter accountability and improved functioning among officials
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at the State Cabinet meeting held at Secretariat, Velagapudi near Amaravati on Wednesday
Amaravati: Following the emotional outburst by Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan and his ire against Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha over handling a recent sexual crimes including the rape of a four year old, the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet on Wednesday resolved to deal with an iron hand against the people spreading false narratives on the social media.
Actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan's comments against the Home Minister on what action she was taking and his remarks that he could takeover Home portfolio to take aggressive action against perpetrators of heinous crimes, Anitha had said that she was taking his comments sportively and justified his reaction due to certain social media posts.
Municipal Administration Minister P Narayana said people occupying the position of Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister have the prerogative to comment on the performance of their Ministerial colleagues and advise them to become more effective.
Breaking his silence over the social media posts, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who chaired the Cabinet meeting at the Secretariat at Velagapudi near here, said certain officials including those holding high offices should change their style of functioning. He said certain officials need to mend their ways and take prompt action.
Briefing the media, Information and Public Relations Minister Kolusu Parthasarathy said action will be initiated to award stringent punishment to the perpetrators of crime mainly against girls and women.
He said the Cabinet approved policies on data centres and semiconductors by offering incentives and taking measures to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Besides offering 50 per cent capital subsidy by the Centre, the State will offer 30 per cent additional incentives to the investors to make AP a hub for semiconductor manufacturing.
USA, Taiwan and China are the leaders in semiconductor manufacturing and in India, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat have some players into manufacturing. AP will be projected as a destination due to availability of required manpower and a conducive investment environment, the Minister said.
The Cabinet also decided to extend the Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act with retrospective effect and initiate action against complaints of encroachment of private and government lands during 2019-24 when YSRCP
was in power.
Rushikonda Palace
Naidu briefed his Cabinet colleagues on his recent visit to the Rushikonda Palace, which was built by demolishing the AP Tourism Development Corporation's resorts and lavish buildings were constructed by investing Rs 431 crore to convert into Chief Minister's Office (CMO) during the
erstwhile regime.
The Chief Minister sought the opinion of Ministers on how to put the palace to use in future and declared that the palace will be thrown open to the public to make them understand on how the previous government wasted tax-payers' money. He also is understood to have said that in his 45 years of political career, nowhere in the world he has seen such an super-structure built for an elected representative to live in rooms with spectacular opulence.
