CM Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy likely to launch Rachchabanda in January

Amaravati: The much-delayed Rachchabanda programme will now be launched in January or February by Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. Speaking at a review meeting with secretaries and heads of various departments at the Secretariat on Friday, the Chief Minister said he would like to interact with the public to know their problems and give solution to them on the spot from January or February.

He asked all departments to gear up for the programme. Jagan observed that by January 1, the village and ward secretariats will be in place across the state. A majority of the public grievances could be addressed at the ground level itself. By the time, he commences the Rachchabanda programme, the officials should ensure that every welfare scheme was implemented on saturation mode.

Enrolment of missing beneficiaries in the welfare schemes' framework should be completed between November 20 and December 20. Jagan said the priority of his government is implementing the Navaratnalu and asked officials to focus on it. He said the priority of the government would be to undo the damage done by the previous government and clear the financial mess it has pushed the state into besides implementing the Navaratnalu.

He also asked the officials to cut down on unproductive expenditure.The previous government did not clear bills aggregating to Rs 40,000 crore which is the main reason for the financial issues in the state.

"We have focused to overcome the situation for the last few months and have adopted austerity measures by cutting down unnecessary expenditure and focus only on priority issues. He told the officials to come up with ideas to increase the revenue of the state without burdening the public. "We should mount pressure on officials stationed at Delhi to get maximum funds from the Central government," he said.