‘`1,600 cr spent to meet dist water needs’

Nellore: Agriculture Minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy said that the State government had incurred around Rs 1,600 crore only for meeting drinking water needs in the district. The Minister participated in Dr B R Ambedkar Jayanthi celebrations at Kasturba Kalakshetram here on Saturday. 

He distributed sewing machines to the women, autos to beneficiaries, and harvesters to the farmers. Speaking at the meeting, Somireddy said that they would shortly invite tenders for the water works to manage drinking water issues in the district. He said that the state government has been constructing 125 feet Ambedkar statue at Amaravati aiming at developing it as a tourism Spot.

Explaining about efforts of the government for welfare of the farmers in the State, the Minister said each and every official has to support Dalits and the farmers in each and every work. Farmers have harvested good produce during this season when compared to the last decade, said the Minister. He further said that the State government had announced Rs 210 as bonus for BPT variety of paddy for one quintal and also started purchasing broken paddy at the procurement centres. 

“Farmers had faced troubles due to attitude of some officials in the Civil Supplies department. We would purchase all paddy stocks from the farmers through the procurement centres,” he explained. He stated that they have been utilising SC/ST sub plan funds for welfare of the community people and also for development activities in the colonies. The government did not divert any sub plan funds to any department, he said. 

The Minister informed that they had given top priority to Dalit beneficiaries in social security pensions. “Funds were sanctioned for construction of 4 Ambedkar Bhavans in the district,” the Minister said, adding the government had allocated Rs 9,847 crore for SC/ST sub plan in 2017-18 and Rs 11,228 crore for 2018-19. Later, Chandramohan Reddy inspected RVS Rice Mill at Mypadu gate centre area in the city. District Collector R Mutyala Raju and others were present.