VIJAYAWADA: The State Assembly on Monday night passed the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation of Governance and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill-2020, paving the way for the creation of three capitals - legislative in Amaravati, executive in Visakhapatnam and judicial in Kurnool - unveiling a new chapter in the history of the State.
In a spirited speech after a day-long debate in the House, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy described it as a historic day, and asserted that his government will never let down Amaravati farmers, who have been protesting for the last one month fearing that executive capital in Visakhapatnam would render their lands worthless.
"If I am against Amaravati, why will I retain Legislative capital here? I assure Amaravati people and farmers, we are not against them. There is no truth in TDP's propaganda that we are shifting the capital. We are not. We are merely adding two more capitals. We are not doing injustice to Amaravati but only doing justice to the other regions as well," Jagan clarified.
A bill to repeal the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) Act was also passed along with the Decentralisation Bill. Quoting from the bill, Jagan said that Amaravati farmers' annuity of Rs 30,000-Rs 50,000 will be extended to 15 years from 10, monthly compensation to the landless workers will be enhanced to Rs 5,000 from Rs 2,500 and SCs, STs, BCs, minorities and the poor whose assigned lands were taken for Amaravati would be rewarded on a par with other farmers improvising upon compensation promised to them by the previous TDP government.
He further promised to ensure Amaravati develops naturally and expressed the hope that one day, it will evolve into a great city. Jagan also dismissed allegations that he was motived by hatred against a particular caste.
"I do not discriminate on the basis of caste, region, religion, creed etc. I won 151 seats only because everyone voted for me. It is a blatant lie to say I am against Kammas... Are there no Kammas in Vizag? My colleagues Nani and others belong to the same caste," he said.
In his nearly two-hour long speech, the Chief Minister explained the rationale behind going in for three capitals, describing it as a course correction. Giving a historical perspective, he reminded the House that efforts to unite Telugus and create a separate state for them began way back in 1937 with the Sribagh Agreement between the then Andhra and Rayalaseema leaders.
"Then itself, they agreed that high court, universities and capital should not be concentrated in one region... when Andhra was formed in 1953, Kurnool was accordingly made the capital," he recalled, adding that subsequently, Kurnool was sacrificed in favour of Hyderabad.
Citing the Srikrishna Committee report, he recalled that it had clearly stated that the Telangana agitation was triggered because of concentration of everything in Hyderabad. The Sivaramakrishnan Committee, formed by the Centre in 2014 to suggest alternatives for a capital for Andhra Pradesh, had cautioned against building a greenfield city and recommended that capital in the Vijayawada-Guntur-West Godavari region - termed Annapoorna because of its fertile lands - should not be contemplated, the Chief Minister said and played video clips of Sivaramakrishnan's comments.
Jagan stressed on Sivaramakrishnan Committee's remarks that using fertile agricultural land in the region for non-agricultural purposes would render many farmers and farm labourers unemployed, affect food security and benefit only real estate developers.
Rubbishing TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu's claims that Sivaramakrishnan Committee had never suggested multiple capitals, the Chief Minister pointed out that the panel had in fact suggested that AP consider having multiple capital zones in different regions.
Stating that Naidu's interest in Amaravati is purely because of his interest in real estate, Jagan accused the former chief minister of misleading everyone at the time of zeroing in on the capital leaking false information that capital would come up in Nuzivid, nearby Nagarjuna University and other areas.
"He himself bought lands through his company Heritage Foods in Amaravati region. TDP leaders bought lands. Why didn't they buy lands in Nuzvid? They alone knew before the notification was issued on Dec 30, 2014 that the capital would come up in the 29 villages. If we want to invest in lands, we will invest on the outskirts of Vijayawada or Guntur. Why would anyone go to villages that are 14-30 km away unless one has specific information? The names of the villages came into public domain only after the notification was issued. Was the capital meant for State or real estate?" Jagan wondered and also lashed out at the TDP for raising a hue and cry over imposition of Section 144 in the Amaravati region.
"Section 144 was in force for four consecutive years in Machilipatnam. In East Godavari district, it was in force from 2016 till we came to power," he said. Going into the feasibility of Amaravati project, Jagan pointed out that for providing basic amenities alone, it would require Rs 1.09 lakh crore whereas the Naidu government had spent just Rs 5,474 crore while unpaid dues amount to Rs 2,299 crore.
"No government can spend more than Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 6,000 crore in five years. Now imagine how long will it take to complete the project. It will take a 100 years at the current pace. If we accelerate and invest Rs 5,000 crore every year, it will take 20 years but considering the 10 per cent interest on loans, the cost will be over Rs three lakh crore. If we take 30 years, the cost will be Rs 5 lakh crore," Jagan explained, asking whether this is possible.
Trashing Naidu's claims of Amaravati being a self-financing project, Jagan said the land monetisation model won't work since the government will have 5025 acres to dispose of. "If we sell it at Rs 20 crore an acre, we will get Rs one lakh crore.
If our total investment on Amaravati is Rs 3 lakh, we will have to sell the land at Rs 90 crore per acre. All this for a capital within eight km radius," he commented and said the State debt as of now was around Rs 2.57 lakh crore.
Reiterating that the various regions in the State need water for irrigation and drinking water purposes, he said to bring Godavari water to Bankacherla, it may take Rs 69,000 crore, North Andhra Sujala Sravanthi project requires Rs 16,000 crores, drought mitigation works in Rayalaseema cost Rs 25,000 crore, and Jala Yagnam (different irrigation projects) started during YSR's time need Rs 30,000 crore to be completed.
"Water grid to supply safe drinking water to all needs Rs 45,000 crore for developing Tadepalli and Mangalagiri municipalities, we need Rs 1100 crore," he pointed out and cautioned that if the government doesn't go ahead with its decision, five years hence, things will be just as they are now.