CM blames inauspicious swearing-in time

NAKAPALLE: Admitting that he has been facing problems in administration since he became chief minister, N Kiran Kumar Reddy has attributed troubles to the inauspicious time he swore in and occupied the chair. Launching Prajapatham here on Sunday, he said, “It seems I took over at an inauspicious time because of which the Congress is facing polls every three months. A section of Congress leaders who tried to split the party and those seeking bifurcation of the state are also causing by-elections and troubles to the party.’’Leaders of TDP, TRS and YSRCP wanted elections only to further their political interests, he said and lamented that YS Jaganmohan Reddy tried to destroy the party his father had assiduously built over the years. Yet, the chief minister said, the Congress government would survive and work or the welfare of all sections of people.Regarding Prajapatham, which will be held till May 5 in 22,888 villages and 5,000 municipal wards, he said the programme will mainly focus on drinking water, power, irrigation and employment.Reddy said his government increased the minimum wage of the MGNREGA workers to Rs 137 a day from Rs 121 and was planning to announce incentives for them this summer.While Rs 45 crore has been released to all the districts for providing people with potable drinking water, another Rs 60 crore will be released ahead of the scorching summer.For farmers, Rs 1,814 crore has been released as input subsidy and Rs 11,500 crore will be sanctioned as loans to women. On the mega Polavaram irrigation project, he said a decision on tenders would be taken in the next two days.The chief minister announced sops for the people of Nakkapalle which include setting up of a degree college, increasing the bed strength in the government hospital to 50, establishment of a Rs 7.5-crore residential school for children of fishermen and sanction of 3,000 LPG connections.Earlier, Reddy administered pulse polio drops to children at Siripuram in the city. Confessing that govt failed in properly implementing the EMRI’s 108/104 ambulance services, he promised to take necessary steps to resume the services.