Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan to review Sand Policy on Tuesday

Amaravati: The Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is going to review the merits and demerits in implementation of the Sand Policy and going to suggest some crucial changes for better execution, on Tuesday.

In a formal interaction with a group of journalists on Monday, Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, Minister for Mining and Panchayat Raj and Rural Development explained that to bridge the gap between supply and demand of sand in the State, the Chief Minister will take a crucial decision in the review meeting.

At the same time, the government has been planning to explore the sand by dredging the siltation at Prakasam and Dawaleswaram barrages, he revealed. The dredging of this siltation would take place shortly. The government estimated that the sand at these two barrages would be sufficient enough to meet the demand of the State for next three and half years.

He said that the government has been planning to drill at least 2 lakh borewells, benefitting at least 3 lakh farmers to provide irrigation water to more than 5 lakh additional acres in the next four years, under the YSR Jala Kala by spending Rs 2340 for digging borewells and Rs 1600 cr for motors and pump sets.

The Minister also revealed that the promotions to the MPDOs as Divisional Development Officers (DDOs) will be completed shortly. Government created 53 DDO positions for the first time. A new notification will be issued for recruitment of the MPDOs vacancies by next month. In addition to that, the government has been planning to add another 20 village secretariats at various districts.

Peddireddy informed that to empower the women in the State, the Government has been facilitating infrastructure for milk procurement at village secretariats. The milk collection points at the secretariats would be designated as Village Secretariat Milk Collection Centres and for a group of villages there will be a Bulk Milk Cooling Centre, he informed. The corporate companies already engaged to collect, store, process, add value to the produce and market the milk collected through these milk collection centres, he said.