Centre released ₹1,750 crore for development of backward districts of A.P., says Union Minister
The Andhra Pradesh government has submitted Utilisation Certificates for ₹1,049.34 crore only, Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary tells Lok Sabha
Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary
| Photo Credit: File Photo
The Central government has released ₹1,750 crore for the development of seven backward districts in Andhra Pradesh under the provision of A.P. Reorganisation Act, 2014. That amount included the fourth installment of ₹350 crore released on March 31, 2020 and the fifth installment of ₹350 crore released on March 31, 2021, Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary has said.
“However, the Utilisation Certificates for ₹1,049.34 crore have only been submitted by the Andhra Pradesh government,” Mr. Chaudhary said while answering a question posed by TDP Vizianagaram MP Kalisetti Appalanaidu in the Lok Sabha on July 29 (Monday).
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha recently, mentioned that the Central government would continue to extend financial assistance for the development of these backward districts in Andhra Pradesh. “Grants for the backward regions of Rayalaseema, Prakasam and North Coastal Andhra, as stated in the Act, will also be provided,” she said in her budget speech.
The A.P. Reorganisation Act, 2014 provides that the Central government may, having regard to the resources available to the successor State of Andhra Pradesh, make appropriate grants and also ensure that adequate benefits and incentives in the form of special development packages are given to the backward areas of the State.
The Act further says that the Central government, while considering the special development package for the successor State of Andhra Pradesh, shall provide adequate incentives, in particular for Rayalaseema and north coastal regions of the State.
Accordingly, seven districts of undivided Anantapur, Chittoor, Kadapa, Kurnool, Srikakulam, Vishakhapatnam and Vizianagaram were identified for the grant of special development package.
The Union Minister said that the NITI Aayog, in the ‘Report on Developmental Support to the Successor State of Andhra Pradesh under APRA, 2014” dated December 1, 2015, recommended a total amount of ₹2,100 crore for the seven backward districts of Andhra Pradesh (₹300 crore per district). This grant includes ₹700 crore released in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 financial years.
The development works executed in the seven backward districts by the State government under the aforementioned package include Panchayati Raj roads, R&B roads, drinking water, drilling borewells, energisation of borewells, tribal welfare, minor irrigation, agriculture, horticulture and microirrigation, sericulture, dairy development, fisheries, construction of Anganwadi buildings, health related works.
The releases for the development of seven backward districts are based on recommendations of the NITI Aayog, he added.
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