Jagan to invite Modi for Rythu Bharosa launch

Amaravati: CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to participate in launching of YSR Rythu Bharosa scheme, aimed to provide Rs 12,500 per annum to eligible farmers, which include Rs 6,000 from centre. State government is willing to change the name of the scheme to represent share of union government, confirmed the Minister for Agriculture K Kannababu recently in a press conference. Chief Minister is scheduled to meet Prime Minister on October 5 in New Delhi.

The central government has been implementing the scheme on the name of Pradhan Mantri Kisan, which is an initiative to provide financial support to all small and marginal farmers up to Rs 6,000 per year. In the state government, the YSRCP government also initiated similar programme on the name of YSR Rythu Bharosa, through which it will provide maximum of Rs 12,500 per annum to the farmers. Whereas, the central government has been giving financial support to only land owners, the state government is giving to both land owners as well as to the tenant farmers.

Since the BJP leaders have started criticising Jagan for not acknowledging the credit to centre, despite of getting financial support, the YSRCP government has decided to include both the names in it.

On the other hand, the Chief Minister will also give details to the Prime Minister on the issues pertaining to Power Purchase Agreements and Polavaram Irrigation project. The centre has raised objections on the state government's initiative of renegotiating the PPAs entered in the previous government with major companies. The Union Minister for Renewable Energy has wrote a letter to Chief Minister, suggesting not to venture for renegotiation of the earlier PPAs. If the state government would take retrospective action, then the corporate sector would lose confidence on the growing renewable energy sector in the country, not only in AP.

Further, the Prime Minister's office also directly asked the state government to give clarity on the initiative of the state government going for reverse tendering in the Polavaram Irrigation project. The state government blamed the previous government that it gave tenders to Navayuga Engineering Company Limited with excess price. But the centre denied it and further alerted the state government that if the existing tenders were cancelled, then the project construction will get delayed. At this juncture, the PMO authorities have asked the CMO to provide detailed report on Polavaram about the claims of the state government. Meanwhile, the state government has completed the reverse tendering procedure in the project and ready to give the works to new agency, Megha.

In addition to this, the chief minister will also discuss on other issues related to finance, infrastructure, growing Naxalism in the state and others.