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Lokesh gets down to business
Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh, who was recently anointed as minister for rural development, panchayat raj and IT, seems to be in a hurry to get down to business.
Amaravati: Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh, who was recently anointed as minister for rural development, panchayat raj and IT, seems to be in a hurry to get down to business.
Before his formal take-over, Lokesh, seated alongside his father, took part in a review meeting on the progress of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) at the Secretariat here on Tuesday.
All the 11 newly inducted ministers are scheduled to assume charge on April 6, which is considered to be auspicious, so was Lokesh. Chambers are getting ready and according to municipal administration minister P Narayana, it will take at least two weeks to make the chambers fit for occupation.
In the meeting, Lokesh instructed the officials to ensure release of Rs 530 crore under the MGNREGS so as to avoid delay in payments. He mooted convergence of funds involving 25 departments to facilitate an integrate approach in implementing the MGNREGS.
He asked the officials to submit to progress cards of implementation of works under the scheme phase-wise. Lokesh reminded the official machinery of the underlying philosophy of the MGNREGS to address distress conditions in rural areas by generating employment to the jobless people on one hand and creation of permanent assets such as roads on the other.
The young minister in fact initiated himself into his portfolio on the Day-1 itself soon after allotment of portfolios to the ministers by the CM on Monday. He had a face-to-face with the heads of departments of PR, rural development and IT for more than a couple of hours late in the evening on Monday itself, in a bid to get to know of the nitty-gritty of his portfolio.
As a matter of fact, the CM handed him down the portfolio involving the three vital departments in line with his wish. Earlier, IT was under the control of former I & PR minister Palle Raghunadha Reddy and PR and rural development were handled by Ch Ayyannapatrudu. All the three departments have been brought together and entrusted to Lokesh.
