AP accords top priority to agriculture, education: CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy
Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at the 7th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog in New Delhi on Sunday
New Delhi: The Andhra Pradesh government was according top priority to agriculture and education, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy told the NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting held here on Sunday.
The Chief Minister highlighted the initiatives of his government in the two sectors and presented a note. The note said, "After the bifurcation (in 2014), Andhra Pradesh has become a state completely dependent on agriculture. Sixty-two per cent of the population is dependent on agriculture and contributing 35 per cent to the GSDP. Hence, we have accorded top priority to this sector," the Chief Minister said.
Jagan listed out the initiatives like the establishment of 10,778 Rythu Bharosa Kendras that act as one-stop shop for all agricultural needs, free crop insurance and the PM KISAN-Rythu Bharosa input assistance scheme.
"We are also extensively using digital technology for monitoring purchase of agricultural produce. e-Crop booking is another initiative to help in effective implementation of input subsidy, crop insurance and similar schemes and focus was also on natural and organic farming, interchanging of crops and cultivation of millets," the CM added.
The Chief Minister said in the education sector, several initiatives were launched with the firm belief that good education alone would alleviate poverty. He lamented that the gross enrolment ratio in primary education in the State was only 84.48 per cent against the national average of 99.21 per cent.
"We will be refurbishing over 55,000 schools in three phases and have covered 15,715 in the first phase to create a better learning environment for students. We are promoting English language education in schools to enable children to face international competition," Jagan said.
Focus was also on skill development at the undergraduate-level even through traditional courses. In 2020-21, he said 69,000 students secured campus placements upon graduation. He said the objective of the state government was to ensure benefits of schemes reach all eligible people in a transparent manner.